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Okay, gonna go ahead and reply to the reviews like always now that I figured out how to multi-quote.

Originally Posted by Aslynn♥Pokemon

So, it's true then. Amber is the daughter of Dr Fuji (that was his name, right?), like I'm sure a few suspected.

Yup, that's the scientist's name. He shares the same name with Mr. Fuji, but remember: games =/= anime. He has as much of a tragic backstory as Amber does, which makes him an interesting one-shot character like his daughter. Since it's heavily implied he died in the first movie, we'll never get the privilege to hear from him again.

Last chapter: oh my. So Legion, realising that there was nothing he could do to prevent Mew re-inhabiting her body, slit Mew's throat and departed? So.....

O. MI. GAWD.

Yes and no. He could continue preventing Mew from re-entering her body, but after Mewtwo told him what had happened to her body couple of years prior, he flipped out. Since there's no way to tell whether Mewtwo is actually telling the truth or not, Legion decided to just end it all, now that Mew's body is worthless.

Wonder how the Legendaries are holding up after all that.

Damn Deoxys. He can't keep his mouth shut. EVER.

You'll find out next chapter. And yes, Deoxys needs to learn that. But old habits die hard, so we'll see.

Originally Posted by Dementuo

wat is this i dont even
OH DEAR ARCEUS YES IT'S JUST LIKE REALITY WOULD SOUND OH ARCEUS HOW MANY TIMES I WISH THAT WAS SO IN SO MANY OTHER STORIES PRAISE ARCEUS

^^; Whoo...?

Strong language makes me a happy reader.

Lol, I hate strong language, honestly. I never wrote out the word, I typed in another word and transferred it out through the thesaurus. Even though I used it the way its defined to be, it made me a little ill to put it in. But, the story IS "R" after all, it was bound to happen... whether I liked it or not.

Originally Posted by Northern Lights

NOOOO ... worst cliffhanger ever! ... which probably makes it the best, how could you just leave it there!

I like teasing you guys XP. I'm evil like that, fufufu.

Mewtwo still has the vial though doesn't he? So, hopefully healing Mew won't be too bad.

M-M-Maybe.

Thank you three for reviewing (though Dementuo, you said you'd leave a full review , haven't seen it yet ;P)! You guys make me a happy camper every time.

Three-quarters of the way done... amazing. I can hardly believe this story has made it this far. Thank you so much for sticking with it, I appreciate it a lot.

Nothing much to say here except I have this love/hate thing going on with this chapter. I love the first half of it, but then I look at the second half and I just go “hmm”. So I don't know, you all put up with my nonsense over my dislike for most of these chapters, and you all like them. So why do I have to complain about every little thing? Guess I'm just afraid I'd screw up the flow of the story or something, so much has happened...

Well, enjoy!

*~*~*~*

Chapter Eighteen:Confessions

“'Among the nonsense tragedies, what on earth you are looking for?
You only have to be honest to yourself and your own fate'
Tell me why, or why not, complaining way too much
Maybe I overlooked something fatal for me”
-- “Why or Why Not”, Oshima Hiroyuki, When Cicadas Cry

*~*~*

...it can't be...

Everything had happened in such a blur, she just barely begun to catch on.

Things had gone downhill very fast when she decided to intervene, thinking she was giving him time to run or even fight back. From what she could recall, something got beyond her control, not that she had any to begin with. He had pushed himself past his limits to look for her in the hopes he could bring her back. He had no power to convince the demon to let her go, but he tried.

...there is no way it can end like this.

Mew had found it difficult to register Mewtwo after Legion forced her back into her body. It could have been because he destroyed it to the point everything was disconnected in her. She lacked the life to remain conscious, but she fought to stay awake. From what she had seen, he was now reduced to a wreck like she was, hardly able to stand and was most likely not in his right state of mind. However, judging by the horror-stricken look on his face, something had gone wrong. She had no idea, however, what it was that would cause him to tremble like that. Or why it felt like she was falling from a long height.

The feline only stared blankly above her, unable to tell how real it all was. She had fallen out of trees before, though she was always asleep whenever it happened. She could remember those because of the dreams she would have of her suddenly dropping from the sky in mid-flight. It had to be the most surreal sensation, a rather incredible feat. Gravity was a very curious thing, she honestly never thought much about it. Having flown all her life, it was nearly nonexistent, a fairytale, freedom specially for her. Now, as she fuzzily watched the rock formation rise higher and higher up, her hearing blocked out by the roar of wind, Mew felt she lost that right.

Faint images suddenly began to dart by, almost catching her off-guard—then again, it seemed natural. It was here the human expression “life flashes before their eyes” started making sense. Never had she thought she would ever experience it, it was portrayed as a scary thought, even a neurological break-down. Strangely enough, she found comfort in the remembrance. Not one image stayed for a split second, but to her, they were there long enough for her to have a good long look. She got to know them by heart, hoping there wasn't an end to the drop so she could see them all: good, bad, heartbreaking, frightening, everything. She didn't want to forget about them.

What little breath she had was knocked out when she slammed into water, though she hardly noticed except for the blurring and darkening of her vision. Peaceful silence followed afterward to where her body finally relaxed and slowed down its descent. Her eyes began to droop, wanting to rid itself of the extra water, only to ache whenever she blinked, forcing herself to keep them open. Billowing in her sight, disturbing the beautiful shades of blue and green around her, was a cloud of red, dissolving into a lighter, thinner color. It was everywhere no matter where she turned her head. As heavy as she felt, the Legendary managed to lift her arm up, watching as the wound on her wrist emptied itself out to mix in with the water.

Then, her throat closed up without warning, choking her. She tightly covered her mouth, struggling to keep from breathing. No... this wasn't meant to happen... Her limbs panically flailed about in a half-attempt at swimming seconds too late. She had bled so much, her heart couldn't keep up with her survival instincts, thus killing her chances of escape and movement in general. She pitifully whimpered, weakly staring past her flowing tail up at the spindly rays of light.

When she blearily blinked, a vague vision of Amber as a child appeared before her, gazing sadly at her. Feebly, Mew lifted her arms up in a wordless plea for aid. Amber... I can't breathe... I thought I was going to live. You said I would...

The girl gave her a small smile, reaching out for her hands. The feline could feel a physical brush against her skin, but dismissed it as her nervous system shortening out. Opening her mouth, the rush of water down her throat surprised her into a gasp, clogging up her airway. Gagging, her vision started to pop out of focus, feeling as though sand was replacing her bones to weigh her down. She grew frightful when her insides burned, the last of her blood throbbing in her veins.

And then, she fell limp, unable to do a thing except stare wide-eyed as her sight faded out. Just before the last of her senses failed her, she felt a familiar touch wrap around her waist and pull her forward.

*~*~*

He pulled her out of the water before climbing out himself, gasping for his breath. His body was still trembling from the dive, leaving him attempting to sit up, demanding for a long rest. Shaking the droplets from his face, Mewtwo coughed out a small chuckle, staring down at the prickly grasses.

“That was... quite the scare,” he sighed out hoarsely, pushing a hand against his chest to help slow down his panting. “Oh, Mew... can you hear me?”

With the exception of the slight rustle of leaves and small splashes from behind, he was met with silence.

Frowning, he looked over, swallowing nervously at how ashen she was, her face turned away from him. He cast his eyes about her tiny body, tensing at the watery wounds and blood that continued to slip out from them. He shakily clasped her up-turned paw, hoping the icy touch was from the water. “Mew... look at me,” he murmured. “Are you okay?”

There was no movement to be seen except for her waving tail still partially submerged in the shallow end. His heart racing, he reached out to roll her head over. He froze when he met the empty stare of her large, dull, bloodshot eyes. Blood and water was pouring out of her mouth, her lips and surrounding skin blue except for the wounds. Lowering a quivering hand to her chest, his breath caught when he felt no heartbeat.

Shaking his head and muttering out a stream of “no”s, Mewtwo pressed his ear to her to hear for himself. “No! No, Mew!” Panicking, he held her up by the shoulders to shake her, only to pause and think for a moment.

He recalled his days of traveling and visiting human cities where he would come across accident scenes. It had always interested him to watch a human attempt to revive another, he had taken note of a few procedures that were used to bring a person back to consciousness. Of all of them, the most common next to the electric pads uniformed humans would rub together and press to the chest was a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation—which usually came first. It had a name, though it was generally referred to as “CPR”. The usage was wide-spread enough children learned it at a young age. He would look in on a few of those lessons whenever he came across it, though he convinced himself he would never use it. “Such a human practice,” he had stated it.

Gazing down at the limp body of his beloved, he swallowed down a lump. Unless he could come up with a better solution in a short amount of time, there was no other option. Sucking in a breath and closing his eyes tightly to review the information in his head, he laid her down, straightening her chin. Glancing down at his hand, he placed the palm down on her sternum. His brows furrowed in worry as he lifted his eyes to the heavens.

“God help me,” he breathed out, then pumped hard and fast as he dared.

Mewtwo was unclear at how long he was to compress the chest, he was still trying to dig that out of the memory archives. Anxious enough as he was, he stopped counting at fifteen and went ahead to move on to the next step. Tilting her head back, he drew in a long breath and covered her mouth, blowing hard down into her lungs. Looking up in the hopes it worked, he became devastated when he saw no change. Blinking back his tears, he made sure he kept breathing in the hopes he would calm down.

“Repeat, Mewtwo,” he murmured to himself. “Keep going until she moves.”

With every compression and breath he exhaled into her, the more stressed he became. He easily lost count the longer his mind lingered on Mew's recovery slipping past his fingers. There was no indication she was responding, no other movements except for the inflation of her chest each time he breathed down to her empty lungs. His mind kept telling him to find some help, but he refused to stop, believing she was still there, still trapped in her own body. He was sure he wasn't doing it properly, whether in her reclining position or his methods, either way, he wasn't caring about accuracy by this point.

“Mew, stay with me!” he begged her in between puffs, vainly wiping his tears away. “Come back to me, Mew! You can't leave!” He threw his head back to scream, “God, don't take her from me! Bring her back!”

Native Pokémon peered out from their hideouts sorrowfully, though some couldn't watch his desperate actions any further. Mewtwo had caught glimpses of them whenever he whirled his head around in the hopes some help would come. He gripped his beloved's fur in frustration, unintentionally slowing down as sobs racked his body.

“This can't be,” he gasped out, shaking his head disbelievingly. “I-It can't be! I refuse to believe it! Mew... no... no...” Ceasing the pumping, he dipped his head down to breathe into her, only for him to pitifully moan into her lips, cupping her head tightly. Pulling back, he bitterly wept, leaning his forehead onto her cool skin.

Then, out of the blue, a thought popped into mind: Start her heart.

He choked down his sobs before lifting his head up, trying to breath normally. “Wh... what?”

Start her heart, it came again, clearer this time.

He looked around, confused. “How...? W-Wasn't I already...?”

His hands suddenly moved on their own accord to slide down to her breast. Focus the electricity into your hands, and shock her.

Mewtwo swallowed some more, gazing into Mew's blank eyes. “I-I don't know any—” he started to protest before the thought interrupted him.

You are a Mew, half or not. You are just as capable of summoning various attacks like your wife.

His heart fluttered at the word, partially aware something was pushing down on his hands, keeping them glued to Mew's chest. As much as his full attention was on interpreting what the thoughts meant by “wife”, he shook his head to brush it aside for now. Biting his lip, he closed his eyes and concentrated, searching inside for a trigger to charge up electricity. Seconds later, his skin tingled as a sensation flowed down his arms to circulate through his hands. He twitched at the tiny shocks he was receiving from it, tempted to pull away and risk interrupting the flow, only to will himself to keep body contact. When he was certain the voltage was high enough, Mewtwo pushed into her ribcage hard as he dared, and released the current.

Her body jerked, and a loud gasp escaped from her open mouth.

Startled, he pulled back when she roughly cleared the water from her lungs, and struggled for breaths between her gags. He watched the color slowly return to her eyes, feeling joy fill his heart. Wiping at his wet eyes, he smiled, then bent down to carefully kiss and caress her face. “Oh, Mew... oh, thank God,” he whispered, pressing up against her forehead.

He hushed her again, gently laying a finger to her still-blue lips. “Just breathe for now, Mew.” Cautiously, he scooped her shivering body into his arms.

The moment he did, she suddenly let out an agonizing scream.

He clutched her tighter in response, to which she started to struggle, albeit weakly, clutching her chest tightly. She wheezed some more when her body spasmed, and her eyes rolled. Mewtwo became horrified, uncertain whether to lay her back down or keep his hold on her. It frightened him not knowing what was going on. Grasping an arm, he gazed worriedly down at the wound, noticing with wide eyes there was little blood coming through. Upon glancing at her throat and face, he found it was the same thing.

She had lost too much.

Shaking his head, the clone desperately looked around for any tourniquets he could use, cursing the tears obscuring his vision. He squeezed her wrist tightly in the hopes he could help block the flow, but it only made her scream out even more. “No, NO! You can't die on me, Mew!” he hollered over her voice. “You can't go! God has to kill me first before I let Him take you!” He stared up above him, clutching Mew closer. “Why are You letting us suffer?! Either save her, or kill me if You want her so bad! But I'm begging You to spare her, please! I'm not living another life of solitude!”

Mewtwo looked down when she dug her claws into his chest. Her eyes were wide in fright, her gasps feeble and irregular between her teeth. Feeling helpless, he bent his neck to nuzzle her, allowing his tears to overflow. “I-I love this woman,” he shakily breathed out, “and You know it... Don't take her from me... p-please...”

He flinched when a slimy object brushed against his knee, and he whirled over to see a young Omanyte patting him with a tentacle. Clutched in another appendage was the vial, which it held up to him with a sad, hopeful gaze in its eyes. Giving it a small smile, he gratefully accepted it, murmuring a “thank you” before it backed away. He only stole a glance at the water inside before tearing the cork off with his teeth. Holding his breath, he held her chin down and raised the bottle to her lips. Unintentionally, she flailed again, the pained cries grating to the ears. Finding no other way to administer it to her without spilling, Mewtwo poured it into his mouth, letting it pool underneath his tongue. With little time to spare, he quickly bent down, and clasped tightly to her lips. Mew's struggles nearly caused him to dribble it all over themselves, then she almost choked when she swallowed it down.

Out of ideas and the vial now sunk in the shallow end of the lake, the clone remained where he knelt, face buried into his mate's chest and painfully endured her screams. For the longest time, he refused to move, silently weeping and praying in his heart for an end to her suffering. Then at last, her struggles began to slow, and her cries of pain quieted down to whimpers. Her breathing began to even out once her heart picked up in rhythm.

Mewtwo waited a few minutes longer before looking up. His anxiety transitioned to relief to see she had fallen unconscious, most likely from exhaustion. Stroking her cheek, he examined the miracle that happened to Mew's body. The color was returning to her face with all of the gashes scabbing over nicely, her fur showing signs of a recovering sheen. He smiled, leaning in to breathe her in, ignoring the tainted scent of blood and dirt. Tearfully, he turned his gaze upward, taking notice of how bright and warm the sunlight was.

As he collapsed to the ground, Mewtwo squeezed her body to him with the last of his strength. A sigh on his lips, he thanked God with all his heart until he blacked out.

*~*~*

The moonlight reached down through the leaves to gently caress the couple where they lay. The male shielded his smaller, female counterpart in his shadow, not that he didn't want her bathed in silver. He wanted his fingertips to flesh her out for him, slowly drifting about her tiny form. Mew shivered in pleasure from both the touches and kisses, growing needy the longer their tails stroked. A long moan escaped her when he poked his finger into her mouth and allowed her to suck and lick it.

“Oh, Mewtwo... I didn't know you were so passionate,” she murmured breathlessly, gazing starry-eyed up at him.

He grinned mischievously, teasingly running his tongue along her parted lips. “I am full of secrets,” he replied in a sultry growl.

She trailed her fingers up his arm. “Can you share them with me?”

“In due time, my love.” When she pouted, he chuckled, and rethought out his response. “But, I suppose I can teach you one of them.”

Her ears perked up in interest, and she cocked her head. “And what would that be?”

Mewtwo tightly entwined their hands as he pressed himself against her breasts. Leaning in, he whispered seductively into her ear, “The power to scream to Heaven.”

Mew rose a brow, wriggling a little beneath him. “How is that possible?”

He grinned wider, eyes lighting up in excitement. “Well, my dear, since you asked, let me give you a taste.” He lowered a hand to spread her legs apart.

She let out a surprised gasp, her knees closing up automatically, and her free paw shooting up to grasp his shoulder. “What are you...?”

“Shh, just relax.” He tantalizingly stroked his fingers along her womanhood, watching her eyes widening and mouth dropping open into an “o”. Her gasps were quiet at first, her body slowly arching into his torso the longer he fondled. Then, when he intensified and found an opening, she started to breathe in labored puffs. Her hands clenched tightly as her body tightened up and tossed about.

“Ohh! Oh, Mewtwo!” she exclaimed, fighting back louder cries.

With a quiet chuckle in his throat, he ceased his caressing and slid his fingers out. “Was that good enough for you?”

Mewtwo tilted his head. “Well, this is rather peculiar of you. Is this normal female behavior by any chance?”

“I-I don't know... but it felt so good!” she moaned. “Please, Mewtwo, do it again! Touch me again!”

He obliged without another word, and Mew let out a happy, sighing wail. She impatiently pressed his fingers harder into her, and quickened the petting. Mewtwo frowned, having no control over his hand even when she had let him go. He wanted to stop, remembering horrible memories of the previous times he had handled her so roughly.

Instead, he was startled to let out a small, deep laugh so unlike his own. “This is only the beginning of it, my dear,” he announced without his inner consult. “There is more where that came from.”

Her eyes widened even more and her breath caught, her full attention on him. “Th-There is?”

There suddenly was something off about Mew. Of all the years he knew her, she had never shown interest in anything sexual, if she even knew about it. He spoke again before he could think on it further. “Of course. Look down.” He hoisted himself up for the occasion.

She did so, and immediately her jaw dropped when a blush burned into view. She mouthed in shock for the longest time, unable to tear her ogling gaze away. In the meantime, Mewtwo's thoughts went wild else where. What is all this? What am I doing? Why is...? ...no... I thought I...

“Why, Mewtwo!” his counterpart's surprised gasp pulled him back. She stared up at him, half-excited and half-worried. “It'll never fit! You're too big for me!”

His heart flipped, even though he let out a lusty growl. He dipped in to lock lips, giving her a fanged grin. “That is when you scream,” he purred huskily.

Then he fell upon, and rammed himself into her. Her voice caught from shock, only able to let out cries of felicity after she grew accustomed to his thrusting. She squeezed a leg into his side, and threw her head back for better audibility, every moan and scream echoing into the night. With a shiver, her star-studded eyes fluttered shut as her mouth opened wider, letting out an exclamation just as white light enveloped them.

“MEWTWO!”

*~*~*

Mewtwo's eyes immediately shot open, a gasp dying on his lips as the image faded. He remained frozen where he lay, trying to recover from the dream. Though the lust washed out of his body the moment he woke up, he caught it in time for him to realize he was quaking from it. He moved to raise a hand to his forehead, only to wince when a sharp pain ran through his arm. Looking down, he blinked at the hand-made sling, then at the leafy bandages wrapped around his upper build. Slowly, he sat up, groaning doing so. His free paw massaged his temples just to find his head, too, was bandaged.

His mind returned to what he had just dreamed of, reviewing over the images of Mew beneath his body, gasping with pleasure. It had been a few days, if not less, since he last remembered dreaming, and depending on which one was real, and the other one being a dream, it continued where he left off: ready to penetrate through her virginity. He had forgotten about the dreams (which he figured was for the best), feeling like his shame had gone to great heights to finally get it out of his system. However, possibly because of Legion's advances, his subconscious restored the lusty dreams.

He jumped in surprise when Cresselia came into view, a joyful smile on her face. “You're awake! Oh, thank goodness!”

Taking a sharp breath to calm himself down, he brought on a smile of his own. “Where did you come from?” he stupidly mumbled.

She felt his forehead. “You're still a little warm. You also woke up, so that adds to your delusion.”

“What? Cress, can you fill me in on this?”

Her gaze became sad when she pulled back, clasping her paws to her chest. “You've been out since late afternoon yesterday. Mesprit says you were suffering from head trauma, possibly from when you landed in the water. But you have to have fallen from a long height... it's what happened with Mew.”

He managed to only catch parts of her explanation due to a piercing headache shooting through that very moment. When he heard her mention Mew, he grew alert, and his thoughts redirected. “Mew! Where is she? How is she?”

“Mewtwo, you just got up. Rest a little longer before you go see her.”

“I want to see her.”

She vigorously nodded. “I-I know you do, but she's in no condition for visitors right now.”

He scowled, and proceeded to stand on his feet against her wishes. When he attempted to take a step forward, he wobbled dangerously, falling into the swan's hold. “Mewtwo, please!” she nearly shouted, clearly anxious. “You need to recover! Mew will still be there when I release you!”

“I'm just as worried about her as you are!” Cresselia snapped out, snatching his arm. “She shouldn't even be alive right now!”

Mewtwo ceased his struggling, gawking down at her. Slowly, she loosened her grip on him and hung her head, tears brimming in her eyes. She resumed, her voice dropped to a murmur, “Her wounds are very deep, I'm surprised they are healing over. Even more incredulous, Mesprit is absolutely sure she was low on blood because of that. She worried all night over her to make sure she wasn't going to have a heart attack, if she already didn't have one. E-Even more shocking... her back is very bruised... she may have broken it, but we found no signs to indicate it. And... th-the head trauma... we were also worried about brain damage, s-so...”

The clone turned away, closing his eyes tightly to take a long breath. In his mind's eye, he recalled the image of Mew's body, broken and bloodless, beyond all help and recovery. But when she did return to consciousness, regaining her soul back, he had nearly neglected the amount of pain she was in. She was pleading for an end to it all, whether for aid or death, he didn't know which. He wondered, though, which ones were what she wanted, and what was the cruelest. If what Cresselia said was true, her being alive was worse.

His heart sank. “No... that cannot be true,” he mumbled to himself. “I thought small consumptions can still heal...”

She lifted her head with a sniffle. “Pardon?”

He swept his eyes about his surroundings. It was barely recognizable being bare as it was—the walls and floor were clearly made of wood, possibly mahogany—and there was an empty walk-in closet. When he glanced back to see he had been laying on a mattress (covered with leaves and grasses for some odd reason), his mind clicked and identified it as a room—a human's room.

Turning to the lunar swan questionably, she replied softly, “This was the closest shelter we could find. We looked for a Pokémon Center in the off-chance there was still medicine there, but couldn't find one. Latias luckily found this place, we just had to quickly dust the rooms and, um... fix up the beds before bringing you two in.” She twiddled her paws. “It was like this when we arrived... we didn't raid anything, we swear.”

Mewtwo cracked a smile at her feeble statement, then turned his attention to the door. “Which room is Mew in?”

Cresselia didn't bother to argue this time. “She's right next door. Mesprit or Latias might be in there with her.”

“I wish to be alone with her,” he requested, shakily walking forward.

She moved to catch him, only to be shaken off. “O-Okay, Mewtwo,” she sighed. “They won't be happy, but I'll let them know.” With a quick glance at him, she hurried out, leaving the door wide open.

Steadily, the psycat regained his balance enough he exited without much difficulty, ducking his head to avoid the frame. A few feet away was another room, the entrance welcoming him in. Sucking in another breath, he walked in just to pause at the doorway. Mew lay on a similar mattress, covered in enough leaf bandages for him to mistaken them as a body cast. A cautious approach to her bedside showed she was peacefully sleeping, making the scene less frightening. The sunlight trickling in from the window ahead smoothed out her exposed face almost dreamily, brightening up the rosy tint of her fur. With the exception of her body size, it was the only visible feature on her.

Hesitantly laying a hand on her warm forehead, he fell to his knees. He gently pet her, fighting to keep his tears back. “Mew... oh, Mew...” Mewtwo choked on an escaping sob, shaking his head. “I-I am so sorry. This... this is all my doing... it has to be. I mean, I... I started it. S-Somehow, I started this reaction possibly from the very beginning, I do not know... but I know I am most responsible for this.”

He glanced at a dark corner with a shiver. “Had I actually done my very best after your... m-miscarriage... if I had known at the time it happened, I would have taken you out of the Tree. I do not know why that thought never crossed my mind since I was thrown out every time I arrived... but it was stupid on my part. I should have just carried you out and just taken you somewhere else. At least you would not have been alone for a long period of time...”

Scooping up her closest paw into his, he finally wept when he felt the pulse. “I-If I had known about the kiss... maybe then... m-maybe this would never have happened. Had I gotten your permission... we would be happier, I-I would think. Maybe... by some miracle...” He reached out to touch her belly, only to let his hand hover inches above her, and slowly trace an arch. “...you would be laying here or elsewhere... making guesses on what it would look like... and coming up with names. Not too simple, but not too exotic, either... it has to be perfect.” He couldn't help smiling at the thought. “I will pick the boy names, and you will pick the girl names... and then argue over which one is the best on both sides. Though out of frustration, we will just end up choosing a different name without thinking, and it will end up sticking.”

His snickers didn't last very long, quietening down to inner sobs. He rested his head on his uninjured arm, keeping a good hold on her hand. “Please stay with me, Mew,” he murmured, running a finger along her wrist. “I am sick of a life of solitude... sick of sleeping alone and waking up alone... sick of traveling alone, with no one to talk to... I do not want any more souls I have hurt haunting me... no more blood on my hands. Please... get better...” Mewtwo leaned in to gently brush a kiss to her forehead.

She stirred before he pulled away, causing his heart to flutter in happiness and worry. She blinked several times up at him, notably confused, though when they made eye-contact, she lit up immediately. “Mewtwo...”

He nodded, and cupped her face. “How are you feeling?”

She frowned, brows knitting in agony when she attempted to sit up. “It hurts.”

“It will for a while, Mew.”

She scanned him for a quick moment, slowly raising a hand to skim along the bandages. “You look really hurt.”

He flinched when he tried to move his other arm, having nearly forgotten about his injuries. “I will be fine. I am more worried about you right now.”

Mew shook her head just to regret it. “I'm not that important...”

“You are to me.”

She shivered, trying to ignore the warm feeling in her chest. “Just... go, please. Take care of yourself first.”

“I am not leaving you alone again.”

She let out a gasp when he bowed in to kiss her. Her hands flew up to grasp at his face, knowing the physical touch was real, but wanted to double check. It was strangely passionate for a light kiss, almost like he was catching up to date on her—there was the hint of a hungry growl in his throat when he let out a sigh on parting. They gazed at each other for a few seconds until he closed the space again, easing into a deeper kiss.

It was cut short when his hand stroked down her neck, causing her to whimper and shudder. “Don't touch me there!” she quietly mewled the second she broke away from him, covering her sore area.

Mewtwo fell back to avert his gaze. “Sorry... so sorry...”

Mew side-glanced at him, a feeling of remorse in her gut. She didn't know what was bothering him, nor at why he looked so broken. Her mind kept telling her she had that knowledge, however, she couldn't seem to come up with anything about it. Carefully, she pushed herself up into a sitting position, only to tremble more and let out a sound of complaint. “Uh... Mewtwo...”

He immediately leaped to her aid. “Where do you hurt, Mew? Is something wrong? Do you need anything?”

Mewtwo's eyes slightly widened, a sense of fear shining through for a moment. “Go where, Mew? You need to recover, you cannot go anywhere.”

“No, not that. I mean I need to go, as in...” She twirled her hands around, then squeezed them together. “...you know? To empty my bladder?”

It took him a split second to get what she meant. Once the realization came to his face, he nodded with an “Oh! Oh, I see!”, and scooped her carefully into his arm.

Mew, wriggling in discomfort, tried to pry his hold away from her. “Mewtwo, I can float on my own.”

“You do not know that.” He headed out the door, and hunted for the house's exit.

“I do too!” She barely stole a glance at the empty furniture each time he peeked into each room. “Where are we, anyway?”

“In some abandoned human house,” he simply said, spotting a door across what looked to be a main room. “I do not know where it is, but Latias found it.”

The feline managed a smile. “Gotta hand it to Latias for staking out these places.”

Mewtwo chuckled as well, opening the door. They peered out, taking note of the gray forest before them and the cloudy weather. It was faint, but there was the scent of pine on the breeze. Out a yard away were the other Legendaries, quietly standing around, looking at nothing in particular. Latias, nervous as she was, immediately spun around and let out an eccentric squeal of “MEW, YOU'RE AWAKE!” as she rushed for her. She nearly knocked down the clone grabbing her friend tightly and spinning her around while sobbing hysterically.

The others hurried over to rescue Mew, and give her and Mewtwo remarks of gratitude. Naturally, the females swarmed together, hardly allowing other males to say two words to her. The psycat grinned nervously at the attention and their blending voices of concern, attempting to slip through the crowd to reach the group of eight. He didn't get far when his mate cried out over their voices “Girls, I have to pee!”, bringing the joyous occasion to an awkward halt.

The Eon Dragon, who never once let her go (though her hold had loosened up), exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, you should have said something!”

Mew fidgeted in place, though she managed a smile for her. “I tried...”

“Oh, I'm so sorry, Mew! I'll take you as an apology, and because you're my best friend and I love yo-o-ou!” She nuzzled her at the end with a sniffle.

“For heaven's sake, take her into the woods!” Mesprit shooed at her. “Poor thing's already close to bursting, she doesn't need to worry about any more!”

Without another moment to spare, Latias pulled her along, bubbling on about what had happened during her three-day absence. Once the two disappeared, everyone's attention turned over to Mewtwo, the females moving to give him hugs or happy nudges. “Glad to have you back,” Suicune said with a grin.

“So I did not break your back after all,” he pointed out jokingly.

She rolled her eyes and mumbled, “You're not that heavy.”

Deoxys butted in with a joyful “MAN HUG!”, throwing his arms around the clone and patting his back roughly. “Mewtwo, buddy, don't you ever scare us like that again! If you do, I'll kill you, got it?”

He awkwardly pushed him back, though he maintained his smile. “I will keep that in mind.”

The alien then gave a lop-sided gaze. “So, are you still worn out from your three-day escapade with Mew?”

The group let out disgruntled groans, called him out on it, and a couple reached out to smack him. “Dammit, Deoxys, did you have to make that joke?” Lugia groaned, face-palming. “Sheesh, you're insensitive...”

“I'm trying to lighten the mood here!”

Mewtwo just patted him on the shoulder. “Good to see you are still yourself,” he sighed, shaking his head.

“See? He understands!”

“Now if you excuse me, I have to relieve myself,” he added, watching Deoxys tense up with slight amusement.

He swiveled around, his expression crossed between confusion and horror. “Oh good God, you've got to be kidding!”

It took a few seconds for the group to realize what he meant. “Not that, gutter-brain,” Zapdos grumbled with an exasperated sigh.

“Need someone to go with you?” Entei offered with a dopey grin.

“...no, I can manage on my own. But just to be on the safe side, wait ten minutes before coming to check up on me.” He promptly disappeared into the forest.

...though he rethought on the request when he hunted down for a place to wash up afterwards. He wasn't familiar with the area, and he realized he needed to hunt down some food for himself and Mew (if no one else had anything set aside for them). He forced himself to brush aside the hunger pangs until after he found a running river to clean himself in. The water wasn't calm enough for a good reflection, so he couldn't fully see how terrible he looked. Which he figured was for the best, he didn't want to start worrying over himself.

Unaware of how long he had been gone, he decided to head back, keeping an eye out for any fruit or edible roots he may come across. He was sure he had gotten turned around in his search for the river until he heard arguing in the distance. With a shrug, he let it be his guide, keeping a straight path back to the campsite. To his dissatisfaction, though he did secretly miss it (most of it), much of the group were verbally chewing each other out for “inappropriate behavior”, “I say we go back/stay here”, and “you never keep your mouth shut” among other things. Those few who wished to remain out of it stood underneath a pine tree, worriedly whispering to themselves.

Mewtwo went ahead to approach them. Shaymin shot him a smile when she glanced over. “Ten minutes like you said,” she said, sounding a little pleased. “Any problems?”

“None at the moment.” He tilted his head at the others. “What did I miss?”

She directed her gaze to the crowd. “We've been cut in half, somewhat.”

His heart jumped, and he scanned the Legendaries, mentally counting them and checking off names. His eyes widened the moment he realized faces weren't among them. “Where... what happened?”

“Jediah and his followers were too strong for us,” Mesprit melancholically replied. “We were forced to retreat into the Tree until they suddenly fell back. They managed to capture some of us in the group, though: Ho-oh, Celebi, Azelf, Jirachi—”

Articuno joined in the count with her sister and Uxie, “Rayquaza, Raikou, Regice, Regigigas, Dialga, Palkia...”

“And Manaphy,” Shaymin finished solemnly. “We were aware they were gone the moment we noticed they stopped chasing after us. But then we heard you, and we temporarily forgot about them.”

Mewtwo, as horrified as he was at the report of their missing friends, suddenly grew ill at the mentioning of his scream to Mew. “You heard me?” he echoed.

They nodded. “We ran outside to see where it came from when we saw you and Mew falling,” Moltres recalled. “You two were pretty far apart... but we could see you were reaching out for her. Then you two hit the water, and we immediately looked for a safe way down. I mean, the majority of us can fly, we could have just swooped in to your rescue, but we were weak... lame excuse, really...”

“I think it was for the best, to be honest with you,” Uxie gave his insight. “If we had ended up rescuing Mewtwo, we wouldn't have heard his heartfelt pleas. Without knowing what was happening, we could feel what he was going through, heart-breaking as it was. It's an experience of maturity, one of many.”

Shaymin hung her head, walked closer to Mewtwo, and then bowed in apology. “You were right in looking for Mew... i-if we had waited any longer... she would have died...” She glanced up shamefully. “I was right in that you probably would have died from shock if she turned out to have been dead. But... to have her still alive after all this... it's a miracle. She changed you, Mewtwo. You are different than you were... twenty years ago.” She cracked a tiny smile. “I'm sorry for not believing in you, Mewtwo. I nearly cost her her life.”

The clone knelt down and scooped her up into his hand, marveling at how tiny Shaymin was. “There is no reason to apologize,” he assured her. “You are forgiven, you meant well. Even if I had told you I could feel her in my heart, you would have insisted I listened to you. You try your best to be a leader, so you just forget these things. I understand that. You are still learning, so you have to make mistakes... even if it ended up killing one of us.”

The hedgehog felt her cheeks warm, and she leaned forward to nuzzle against his jaw. Mewtwo let out a small chuckle, pressing her close like he would for a hug. Then he gently lowered her down, noticing she had become a little healthier all of a sudden. Almost immediately, a small pink flower popped into view, making him and the others who witnessed it to quietly gasp.

Shaymin wriggled a little, gazing up at them with a tearful smile. “It's been a long time since I felt true gratitude. It's one of the most beautiful feelings in the world... next to love, I believe.”

Nodding, Mewtwo turned to face the rest, who stood where they were, silently watching. He noted a few were holding back water works, gazing in wonder at the blossom sticking out of Shaymin's fur. It saddened him to know they had friends who missed out on the small miracle, but he prayed in his heart more opportunities like this would be in the future.

There came movement in the corner of his eye, and he looked to see Latias, alone, approach him. He became concerned, almost standing up in a flash until she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Mew wants to see you,” she whispered in his ear, sounding a little worried.

It lowered his anxiety enough he nodded, and stood up. Excusing himself, he walked into the part of the forest Mew had gone to. He started to shiver the moment his friends were out of sight (though he heard Latias gleefully compliment Shaymin's flower), feeling something was rather odd about her behavior.

“Mew, you wanted to see me?” he cautiously called out.

She came into view from behind a tree, looking a little jittery, albeit somber. Some of her bandages were off so she didn't look like a mummy anymore, though he wondered if she was supposed to be removing them so soon. Keeping her eyes down, she took his hand, which he noticed was a little cold to the touch.

“I found our place,” she mumbled, pulling him along.

He tilted his head curiously. “'Our place', Mew?”

She briefly glanced over her shoulder. “Where we can be alone.”

“But the others—”

“Latias will let them know. I told her we won't be gone for the whole day. Hopefully.” Mew tightened her grip and quickened their pace.

“What plans?” she immediately blurted out, keeping her eyes on the road and tensing a little. “This was just a random thought. I wanted to talk.”

“We can talk here.” He attempted to slow down.

She tugged at him. “No, I-I want to be alone.”

“We are alone.”

“No, I want to be alone alone! No, I mean—!” She swiftly spun around to grasp his shoulders. He winced at her leer, though her eyes softened when they made eye-contact. Nervously biting her lip, she slowly lifted a paw to lightly skim the bandages, stimulating him to tremble. “This is my fault,” she breathed out. “Everything... I-I screwed it up... I worried you all sick with my illness.”

Mewtwo shook his head. “It was not your fault, Mew.”

“It is, Mewtwo,” she firmly said, dropping her hands. “I was naïve, and foolish... I refused to grow up.”

Though he knew what she meant, he wanted to hear it for himself. “What do you mean?”

She winced when she picked at the leaves on her cheeks. “Physically, I'm a mature adult. That was what I was immortalized as. Mentally, I... technically am, but I wasn't happy with it. I had been so depressed at that time, I nearly neglected my duties my first year. S-So... I made the decision to, well, be childish. I love children, I watch over them a lot. I love how they're just so happy all the time. I wanted that... I wanted to be childlike, but there is that glaring difference between being childish and childlike... something I hadn't caught until I don't remember when...”

He had a feeling he knew what she was talking about, but held his tongue about it.

“...Mewtwo... you need a woman to be your mate, not a child,” she continued, her voice lowering. “You are just that kind of person. You're not one who easily opens up to others... so choosing a mate has to be the toughest decision of your life. It has to be someone with whom you will spend your life with, and be loyal to, and raise children with. She is to be your best, and closest friend... which is where the trust comes in.”

Mewtwo fought back a gasp when her tail curled around his, the bulbous end gently stroking the tip. “It has to be the most awkward feeling in the world, to know you and your best friend are intimately close. But I suppose it's different between mates. I mean, I wouldn't know, I never had sex. Yet.”

He nearly backed away when Mew wrapped her arms around his neck. He had to avoid breaking eye-contact in fear that if he did look away, she would turn out to be Legion, and the world around him would melt away to reveal they were still in the Tree. She must have noticed something wrong with him to become exceedingly worried. “What's the matter? You look a little pale.”

He leaned his forehead against hers before he would close his eyes. Gulping down a few breaths, he whispered, “Nothing, Mew. I will be fine.”

“It's because I mentioned sex, isn't it?”

“It really has nothing to do with you, honestly.”

Her fingers curled around to the back of his head, inducing him to flinch. “Honey, please calm down. I'm going to need your cooperation for this.”

“Mew, no, not while you are still weak,” he immediately protested. “Teleporting is not what you should be doing.”

She frowned slightly. “You don't look like you can continue walking.”

“You have head trauma from falling into the water and nearly drowning!” he exclaimed, inching closer to hysteria. “You are in no condition for this! As a matter of fact, we should not even be out here. We should be in that house recovering right now!”

Mew hung her head, tears visible in her eyes. “Mewtwo, I want us to be alone,” she whimpered.

“But why?” he emphasized. “Why do you want us to be out here? What is so important you just cannot have the others accidentally overhear, or have them go elsewhere?”

Without another word, she crushed her lips to his, and a flash of light engulfed them. He was briefly aware of the sense of traveling rushing by them, but he was too surprised by her sudden kiss to think much on it. All he knew was the very next moment, he lost his balance and fell on Mew, who let out a hurtful cry, and he had a headache.

She screamed again. “Mewtwo, get off!” she gasped out.

He sat up, watching her curl in pain as she struggled for breath. Sweeping her into his arm, he looked around, his eyes widening at the familiarity of the scenery. He recognized the lake and waterfall immediately. “Pryce Falls,” he muttered, and a chill ran down his spine.

Mew followed his gaze, massaging her ribs. “Yes... this is our place, Mewtwo... our get-away spot, you can say.”

She took an irregular breath, wincing a little. “It may have just been in your dreams, Mewtwo... but our spiritual bonding was real... even if it was scary. So it would be appropriate for it to be physical for us to bond physically.”

His eyes widened. “Mew... y-you cannot be...”

“We were almost separated for good, Mewtwo. Even if it was still my body, it wouldn't have been the same.” Her fingers smoothed over his lips. The moment he gasped, she slightly poked them in to skim along his teeth. “It was three days, wasn't it? It's amazing how much things have changed in three days.” Slipping further in, she touched his tongue, which he withdrew back.

With a frown, she pushed herself away, floating to the middle of the lake. Looking past her shoulder, she waved him over. “Come wash up with me, dear,” she invited. “We're a little dirty.”

Mewtwo was torn with himself over what to do. He wanted to return back to the others, knowing they would be safer with them than alone; the other half, however, wanted to stay, trusting her decision, and that half had two sides of the issue. Not wanting to hurt her, he went ahead to go along with it. Carefully, he stepped into the water, though he almost refused to advance further due to the cold temperature.

Mew smiled at the sight, and came to assist him in. “It's no hot spring, but it'll have to do,” she whispered to him with a giggle.

He blushed a little through his shivering. “Are you sure we should be in water with our injuries?”

“We can always get new leaves if they fall off.”

He gave her a questioning look. “Do you even know how to wrap bandages?”

“I've practiced.”

It was a harsh answer, he noted. A sting struck in his chest for a few seconds before it faded, and a single word came to mind.

Liar.

Whether it was his own, or hers, he didn't know. He went ahead to push that subject further. “How often were you hurt in your life?”

She shot him a glare. “Why does it matter?” she grunted. “I was accident-prone as a kitten, I bled a lot. Gave me an excuse to learn to tie knots.” Glancing down to see Mewtwo was nearly chest-deep in the water, she shoved him over.

He came up to the surface very quickly. “What was that for?!” he spluttered. “I only have one functioning arm, Mew!”

She felt a little bad, but just gave a small shrug. “Oops?”

He glowered at her, snatched her tail, and wrenched her into the water. She hardly was submerged, though she clung to his arm with a squeal. “Oh, God, it's cold!”

Mewtwo smirked. “I thought you love swimming.”

“I d-don't swim in cold water often! And even if I did...” She pushed him again. “You're such a jerk!”

“You started it.” He dunked her.

She used her tail to splash him. “You pissed me off!”

“Not on purpose.” He lightly sprinkled her.

Mew wrapped her arms around her with a huff, squeezing her eyes shut. “Yeah, well... you scare me sometimes.”

His brows rose a little. Somehow, he wasn't too surprised at her statement. He knew he was an intimidating figure, having even been told by a few others he was frightening. It was prideful of him to accept it, but as he became more peaceful, his expressions had softened up and it got harder and harder to anger him. “How exactly?”

She paused in mid-shrug, a little unsure herself. “Well... there's the usual things. But lately... ever since our kiss in Mount Quena... I felt your stares, your presence no matter where you were. You were pretty much everywhere for some time. Um... and I had dreams...”

“What kind of dreams?”

The heavy blush made her shudder, so she went silent, turning her back on him. She started to twirl her hand in a circular motion in the water in an attempt to get her mind off the question. Mewtwo, though he was sure she was trying to avoid answering, became more concerned the longer he waited. The instant he touched her, she gave a frightened gasp and dove into the water. He watched her swim in the direction of the waterfall before disappearing. Not wanting her out of his sight, he waded toward it, taking care not to slip. He stared up the length of the falls thinking she climbed up it until he scanned the cliffside. A little suspicious, he passed through the water to find a cavern. It wasn't very deep, just scarcely taller than him, but Mew was there, huddling in the far corner. On the ground at the entrance were the stripped bandages, torn in pieces as a sign she had struggled to take them off.

Sorrowfully, he crawled in as far as he dared. Gazing at her exposed, scarred wrists, he couldn't help reaching out to grasp them. To his relief, she squeezed back. “Please don't judge me, Mewtwo,” came her muffled whimper. “I couldn't control those dreams. They just came, I couldn't do anything.”

He nodded, running a thumb along her hand. “I understand, Mew... I had dreams as well.”

She peeked out with wide, watery eyes. “You did?”

“Yes... they were vivid and rather sequential, in a way. I never had them until after... well, I had dreams with you in them previously, but they were never like this.”

When she lifted up her head, he found himself gawking at the dark scabs streaking down her face. She fidgeted under his stare, rubbing her knuckles on her cheek. “You dream about me?”

Mewtwo hung his head sheepishly. “They vary from time to time, but yes.”

Mew slowly shifted to her knees, tightening her hold on him. He had to avert his eyes from her neck. “What about these recent ones? What were they about?”

His throat clogged up as though it was preventing him from spilling out his dark secret. For a long moment, he struggled to get his voice out, to tell her the truth, to end the nightly torments. Finally, he managed to get a word out, if only reluctantly. “...s—sex.”

It was deathly quiet in the cavern, even the thunderous waterfall seemed to have lost its voice. The two could only stare at each other and breathe, unable to drop eye-contact or their hands. Mewtwo felt an icy chill numb his body and anchor him to the floor. He was sure his heart stopped beating, and that he lost his soul. He felt unworthy to be kneeling before Mew, wanting to run off to where she couldn't find him again. She didn't deserve him any longer.

As painful as it was, he watched her lean back in shock, her hands beginning to release him. “Sex... Mewtwo?”

Now that he had nothing more to hide, he maintained his gaze and slowly nodded. “That was the premise of them,” he murmured. “But... as erotic as the dreams were, the intercourse did not happen... until today. I suppose it is because I was so close to losing you, the dream went ahead to finish it like it was afraid that if you died, it would die with you. And... it is almost like it knew how devastated I would be if you did. As perverted as it sounds, Mew... I was becoming addicted to it, much like I am addicted to you.”

She visibly shuddered, but kept her eyes on him. Mewtwo swallowed, reaching out to skim his shaking fingers along her cheek, inwardly grateful she didn't flinch, though her brows knitted in concern. Her eyelids fluttered shut from the touch, a clenched hand resting on her heart.

“I-I want you so bad,” he continued, vainly fighting back his grief as she glanced back up, dropping his hand to her shoulder, “but it cannot happen physically. So I had to resort to fantasies. I-It is a lust... these dreams only prove I cannot love... I can only lust. But I know I love you! I do not want just your body, Mew, I want all of you!” They both flinched at the echoes, but he kept on with his declaration. “I want your heart, your soul, your love, everything! I have been tormented with this for so long, I can fight it no longer! I almost lost you! I do not care that we are eternal, I want you here with me!”

The clone buried his face into her scabbing neck to weep, holding her close. She made no movement that suggested he was unwelcome to her, but that didn't calm him down, having now lost control of his emotions. Sad and frightened as he was, he pressed hot kisses to her face just when his hand slid over to grope about her chest. Her fingers dug into him while he did, a tiny mewl escaping her. He barely registered it, and he continued to push his emotional distress on her. Conflicted with himself about whether or not to press her into the wall, Mewtwo began muttering incomprehensibly to himself in between breaths.

Mew felt her wounds throb painfully every time his lips touched her skin, making her flinch from a burning sensation they would leave. She snatched at his fingers as they kneaded her, and led them to her face, where while he did slow, his antsy digits began to massage her cheek. A moan managed to find its way out of her throat, provoking him to kiss her mouth, having mistaken it for a pleasing sound.

But it sealed their fate. She couldn't fight it anymore.

Her lips cut into him with a passion, her tiny paws cupping his head to keep him in place. She heard him grunt in frustration, and when she trailed a hand to his shoulder, she remembered his arm stuck in a sling. It was an unfortunate disability they both would have to deal with. Returning to his face, she clawed at the bandage, trying not to scratch him doing so. Then Mewtwo moved to kiss her throat, causing her to shiver when he breathed over the claw marks. Hoisting herself up, she tilted his head before easing him to the ground. She knelt over him, fingering the bandages on his chest.

They gazed at each other as they panted, trembling at their wandering touches. Swallowing, Mew leaned in to touch noses. “Oh, Mewtwo... I-I don't know how it's possible, but... it is highly likely you and I were having the same dreams.”

He quietly gasped at the surprise. “You...? But... you are so... I did not think...”

“It was these dreams that kept me up all night. They frightened me. I was worried I was developing lusty feelings, if that's what lust feels like. I didn't want that... I wanted to have a pure love for you.” She frowned, running a hand across his brows. “But... is it possible to lust after your own mate? I hope that we aren't mates because of that. I want it to be of love like everything should be.”

She gazed down at how they were positioned, then looked at his hand. Taking it into her own, she studied it for a moment, then closed her lips over a finger. Mewtwo's eyes widened, watching her attempt to widen her mouth to further insert it. She barely got the knobbed tip in before she pitifully whined and pulled it out. A look of slight disappointment was etched on her face, and she sighed.

“Look at us, Mewtwo... what is this? Is this instinctive? Is it love? Lust? I can't tell anymore... I'm almost convinced the dreams are just that: dreams. There really is no way you can... well...” She dropped his hand, a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Mew...” He attempted to sit up.

She stopped him with a gentle touch. “Dear... I want you much like you want me. But that shouldn't be. No... there's a deeper meaning behind all of this, I know it. What proves to us we are in love, that we chose each other for a reason? What makes us who we are?” She straightened up, and resumed to picking at the leaves. “Mewtwo... you aren't all lust like you say you are. You have in your heart love like all of us do. It was planted in there when you were very small. Tell me... do you remember a girl named Amber?”

His lips pursed as he shook his head. “The name is not familiar.”

Mew let out a sad sigh. “She was right,” she murmured. “You don't remember her... but I'm surprised you don't recognize that love. It could have been because your sadness hid it away, and your anger may have corrupted it. Still, your heart may remember, which may be why you were willing to accept humanity, if reluctantly. And later, friendship, then love.”

Mewtwo slowly raised his hand to lay it against her forehead. “Are you feeling okay, Mew?”

She shrugged him off. “Mewtwo, I have a small favor to ask of you.”

“Anything.”

“...I want you to prove your love to me. If you truly love me, don't tell me, show me. That's all I ask.” Then she gave him a light kiss before crawling off him.

He carefully sat up, gazing down at Mew with a slightly puzzled look. She frowned a little, and sat back against the wall, rubbing her arms. With a slight shiver, Mewtwo scooted to the opposite wall, gazing thoughtfully out the mouth of the cavern. Her request made sense, but he didn't know how to do it, or what to show her. Somehow, he felt a little rushed, almost like everything hung on the balance. Looking past the waterfall, he noticed a tree across the field. Shooting her an aside glance, he slipped outside, and waited until he was on solid ground before running over to it. Pausing under its shade, he felt a smile on his lips at realizing it was a Lum tree still bearing fruit. Plucking off a few, he hurried back to the waterfall, and tried to squeeze into the cave without getting the berries wet.

The feline looked up at his arrival, brows raising questionably when he shook the droplets off his face. Upon spotting the Lum berries, her stomach suddenly growled loudly, making her blush. Mewtwo smiled, and knelt down before her to lay his find down. She reached out for one just for him to lightly tap her hand in refusal.

“What are you doing, Mewtwo?” she quietly gasped, withdrawing.

Without a verbal reply, he picked up one of the ripest of the Lum and bit into it. Mew was confused, but she looked a little betrayed as she watched him chew. “Y-You can't be serious... am I not allowed to eat? What, you can't be on an empty stomach for so long?!” She became a little more furious when he shook his head. “You're taking this 'show, don't tell' seriously, aren't you?! What is this, Mewtwo?! Tell me!”

He shook his head once again, then tilted her chin up with a finger. Her eyes widened when he leaned down and gently connected to her lips, transferring the softened morsel into her mouth. Sitting back, he quietly observed as her jaw clenched tightly to prevent from dropping open, eyes welled up, and her shoulders shook. Fighting past her gag reflex, she swallowed, then wept, her arms shakily shooting up for him. Mewtwo wrapped his free limb around her, allowing her to cry into his shoulder while she tightened the hug around his neck. At a loss for words, she simply pulled back to give him small kisses and nuzzle his nose.

Smiling, he handed her the Lum, which she gratefully accepted. She slowly ate to get adjusted to the food. Not wanting to break the silence, they resorted to awkward gazes, every now and then making faces at each other to try and bring some laughs to the cavern. Mewtwo rejected the berries whenever she tried to offer him one, feeling she deserved them more than he did. Mew began to notice they tasted more and more bitter as time went on, which she linked to her guilt eating in front of her counterpart.

“Mewtwo, aren't you going to eat something?” she inquired of him at long last, down to the last berry.

He replied for the umpteenth time, “I will eat later. I picked those for you.”

She shook her head slowly, prodding the skin of the Lum for any soft spots. “Mewtwo... I-I don't know how to repay you for all this.”

He waved a hand around in refusal. “Do not worry about it at this present time. Repay it back on your own time.”

Mew smiled a little before sighing. “You know, I just realized you put me ahead of your life almost recklessly. It's just so... I wouldn't say it's selfish, but in a way... in the long run, it might be.” She eyed the bandages warily.

He slightly frowned, rubbing his arm. “How would it, exactly?”

Her eyes met his for a moment. “What if you had died, Mewtwo? You would be leaving me a widow, so to speak. That would be rather selfish, leaving me alone so suddenly.”

Mewtwo imagined the consequences of poor Mew left alone. With the thoughts of her having to deal with guilt, loneliness, and the stress of trying to move on, he agreed. He was very close to feeling that heartbreak himself, he understood her completely. Then he recalled how Celebi and the others were worried about his health, urging him to take the water for himself. He honestly couldn't blame them, they meant well.

“It would have actually been selfish of me to take the last of Clarity Lake,” he corrected. “There was very little left when I finally gave it to you.”

She found herself shivering. “What do you mean? There wasn't enough for both of us?”

“No.” He glanced over to do a quick scan of her figure, taking note of the wounds that should not have scabbed over so easily. “The vial had cracked, and by the time I administered it to you, there was only a quarter of it left, maybe less. There would have been no way I would have split it in half between us, not in the condition you were in.” He turned his gaze back to the waterfall. “It is a miracle it still kept its healing properties. You were so broken up...” Not wanting to remember the horrific image, he trailed off.

Mew whimpered. “I understand...” After a moment's pause, she then quietly added, “I suppose it would have been worse if I happened to have gotten pregnant.”

The statement made him close his eyes, and he slowly sighed through his nose. He knew she would bring it up eventually. “Mew... I can think of only two other times you and I would have become intimate if it had not been for a few instances. What are the chances you would have been ovulating during those nights?” Mewtwo then raised a brow in inquiry, glancing over at her. “Do you even know your ovulation period?”

Mew shrugged. “I had friends who knew when theirs occurred. They were aware of this 'heat season', so they told me, and they almost always got pregnant during those seasons, whenever they were. I questioned about my heat season, but they couldn't answer. As far as I know, I don't think I had one. Since, you know... I was immortal at the time.”

He placed his chin in his hand. “It is possible you might have one now.”

“But I don't know when it is, or what it feels like. I could have been having it this whole time.” She flushed at the thought, staring up at her mate. “Why am I telling you this?” she muttered to herself, biting into the berry.

The clone felt a blush rise as well. “I am sorry I brought it up. It is a sensitive topic, I take it?”

Mew waited to swallow before giving her reply. “I-I don't know. I mean, it doesn't come up in casual discussion anyway, so, uh... I suppose it is.” Twiddling her fingers, she resumed eating.

It was an awkward silence, both of them avoided eye-contact while they tried to fight down the blushes and concentrated on something else. Because they sat across from each other, it made things more uncomfortable, knowing they resolved their relationship, but didn't know how to carry it out. Thinking back on the issues and bonding they had, Mew got a little nervous. No doubt both of them knew there was only one other thing left to complete their bond.

Glancing up at him, she hesitated a little before opening her mouth. “Um... Mewtwo?”

“Hmm?” He looked over, visibly calm.

She took a breath, slowly going over her response. “I... um... c-can you promise me that I'm yours? That way... when we do finally... c-consummate, well...”

He scooted closer, and wrapped his tail around her form, bringing a small surprised gasp from her. She relaxed some at the warmth of the touch and his gaze. “You already are, Mew. But if you insist, I shall make the promise.” He gingerly brushed his fingers against her cheek, avoiding touching the scabs the best he could. “Though it would not be fair if you were just mine. I have to be yours as well to even it out. Does that make sense, Mew?”

She leaned into his hand, grasping his wrist. “It's Myriam,” she murmured, gently closing her eyes.

Mewtwo blinked, unsure if he heard her right. “...it is what?”

“Myriam. That's my name.” Looking up with half-lidded eyes, she let out a soft sigh. “I would have told you sooner, but that was before I accepted you were my mate. Besides, now would be a good time to get used to it.”

“Get used to your name? I have always called you Mew.” He almost began to regret speaking out about it. Just by reciting the name over in his head, he was finding himself liking it, feeling it fit her well.

“That's because names are more for close family members, many Pokémon have that custom.” She hung her head a little, taking his hand into her tiny paws. “I am the last Mew, so naturally, when Mother died, so did my family. I hope you realize that I have not said my real name out loud in a thousand years, there was no need to.”

“Why tell me this now?”

“We're mates, Mewtwo... we both acknowledge that. And having been so close to being separated... it's better late than never.” Mew lightly skimmed her fingers along his palm, a small frown on her lips. “No one else knows of it, except for you, Mother, and I... as well as others on the other side. It's to be uttered when those outside of the family aren't within earshot, like when we're behind closed doors. Any other time and location, 'Mew' must be used.”

He was still a little puzzled. “Is there a reason for that?”

She shrugged. “I guess it's because if someone else knows about it, they can steal it away from you. Names are important in identifying someone in a unique sort of way, I suppose, depending on their meaning.”

Mewtwo nodded, beginning to understand where she was coming from. “Do you know your name's meaning?”

“Well... I've heard different interpretations: 'drop of the sea', 'lady', 'someone who is loved'. There's quite a few.”

He felt a smile spread on his lips, finding the name more beautiful and fitting when she listed the definitions. “Would you know which one your mother meant by?”

She once more shrugged. “I wouldn't know... though I heard it also meant 'exalted', which I guess would make sense... but then again, most of the other meanings make sense.”

Mewtwo gently caressed her jaw, bringing her gaze to him. “Your mother loved you very much to give you this name,” he stated quietly. “A wise parent would know what name to give to their child, especially one as beautiful as yours.”

Mew blushed in humility, nuzzling into his hold. “I wish I told you sooner, Mewtwo...”

She clung on when he suddenly swooped her up to rest against his chest. “It would not have been as big an impact,” he said. “I almost lost you, I am considering this as a blessing.” Then he chuckled out of the blue. “You know, you could have just shown me your name.”

She giggled and lightly nudged his shoulder. “You would have pronounced it wrong,” she smirked.

“Try me.”

“It's spelled with a 'Y' instead of an 'I'.”

“I would have still pronounced it right.”

“Would you?”

“Yes I would, Meer-ium.”

She wrinkled her nose at his exaggeration. “What a way to butcher my name, Meew-two.”

They quietly laughed as they hugged, feeling tears of joy creeping up on them. Mewtwo lay his head in between her ears, gazing happily past the waterfall, out towards the blurry forest. He suddenly noticed how healthy it was despite being gray, at how the grass did look a little greener than back down in Cherrygrove, the Lum tree out by the river still bearing ripe fruit... it made him wonder if not everything was touched in the disaster. Mew, or Myriam he corrected himself, had indeed found the right get-away. Secretly, though, he wanted to show the others this place. Maybe it would loosen up their worries in knowing the entire world hadn't been as ruined as they believed.

A shiver ran through his body the moment she hoisted herself up to whisper into his ear. “Thank you for saving me, Mewtwo.”

He slowly shook his head, and held her close. “Do not thank me, Myriam. If it was all my doing, you would be dead. I did not know what to do... I was frightened. I-I did not know how to get help in time... I had to beg for your life—”

Falling back, she interrupted him with a soft kiss. “No need to tell me, I heard everything... you have great faith in God to place it all in His hands.”

Mewtwo tilted his head a little in puzzlement. “I meant everything I said to Him... how is that faith?”

Her smile was sad. “You were willingly asking for His help. Your heart was humble enough to know where to turn to. This was something you couldn't have done yourself... you had too little knowledge on it.” Then she looked away when she frowned. “To be honest, Mewtwo, if it was I who was trying to revive you... I might not have looked to Him for help. I think I told you this before, but I lost my belief in God. I believed He had forsaken me in my time of need... even while that whole time I was looking to Him for help... but it never came. I did horrific things because of it...”

He wanted to silence her, to let her know he already knew about it all, but his heart kept him back. He felt he had no right to question her, or to even approach her on it. Instead, he hugged her tightly, and fought back his tears. She curled her arms around his neck in response.

“But these last few days, as horrendous as they were, and the pain was so unbearable... I don't think I would have survived it in any other time frame, you know? I guess it's because I now have something to hold on to...” She bent back to gently kiss his cheek. “I'm proud of you, Mewtwo. You have a stronger will than I do... and a wonderful guardian angel.”

“Angel... you mentioned her before,” he recalled. “I could have sworn it was just a dream.”

“It wasn't, she allowed me to contact you. Because of that...” Mew laid a hand on his sternum to feel his heartbeats. “...our bond has been strengthened. We can sense each other... can't we? It's much more stronger than before, which would explain a lot of things, wouldn't it?”

Mewtwo squeezed her hand in silent agreement and in apology. They gazed at each other, feeling a sudden sensation of worry rise up in their chests. In unison, they looked out of the cavern, almost expecting to find something or someone outside worth of concern.

Mew wriggled in discomfort. “It's calling...”

“What is?” Something in the back of his mind told him he should know, but he quickly set it aside.

“...the Tree wants us back.”

His heart clenched up, and he pressed her into him protectively. “No... it cannot be possible...”

She anxiously looked up. “Our blood and aura is fueling the Tree,” she said, almost hesitantly. “It's only natural that we are connected to it.”

“I refuse to let you go,” he darkly muttered, tightening his grip.

She let out a breathy gasp when he did. “Mewtwo... we have to go back.”

He shook his head. “I almost lost you, Myriam... I cannot let it happen again.”

“It won't if we work together.”

“What are you talking about?”

She flinched at the growl in his voice. “M-Mewtwo... we need to go back. The Tree... it's sick and getting out of control. Do you know what that means?”

He took a few moments to recall any of the talks the two had about the Tree, only to take too long for her liking. “It's going to gorge itself any time now,” she answered for him. “And when it does, we'll die.”

“By that, you mean every one of us will?”

She sternly nodded. “We're not immortal anymore, Mewtwo.” She wiggled free, and headed for the exit.

Mewtwo hurried after and stopped her past the waterfall. “Mew—Myriam, this is suicide!” he exclaimed with a stumble. “We just barely escaped with our lives! The Tree is dangerous!”

“And that's why we have to kill it.” She moved to get around him.

He caught her by the arm. “It could be a trap,” he added. “Legion and his minions may still be there waiting for us.”

Though she shuddered at the thought, she gave him a sharp gaze. “I'm aware of the risks, Mewtwo, but Amber told me we have to destroy it.”

“What does this Amber know? Has she been inside of the Tree? Does she know of Legion's horrors? I-Is she aware of the dangers at all?”

“Amber's been dead long enough to know all of this,” Mew snapped out. “She knows you have the power to neutralize the Tree—cleaning it out in other words. The Tree has three types of aura inside it: mine, man, and demon. They are unable to mix without a catastrophe happening. It's possible the only reason it hasn't gone berserk yet is because of your blood, I don't know. You are half of both a Mew and human, Mewtwo, so... s-so that balances out two auras in there—I-I think. Oh...” She clutched at her head, shaking it around like it would help the memories fall into place. “Oh no... I-I don't remember it all... I just know about it... well...”

Mewtwo reached out to grasp her shoulder to help stabilize her. “Relax, honey, you are stressing out.”

She smacked his hand away. “Mewtwo, please, we have to go back, that's all I ask!”

“And my answer is 'no'!”

“Mewtwo, we'll die if we don't!”

“And we will die if we go back!” He lowered his voice some when she flinched. “We are in no condition to fight, Mew, and you know it! I mean, Myriam!”

“Both names are fine,” she mumbled, though he barely heard her when he resumed.

“Legion has half of our friends under his control! They have no limit to strength despite how broken the possessed body is! We were unconscious for half a day, and we are not even close to recovery, none of us are!” Taking a few breaths, he reached out again, this time to cup her face. He was met with no backlash this time. “Myriam... please... let us rest. We have to go back to free them anyway... but let us recover first. Give us a couple of days, okay? Just... just let these past few days fade into the distance. Let us come up with a plan. Is that okay with you?”

It was clear she was hurt, but Mewtwo could have sworn he saw resentment in her depths before she hung her head. “That'll work,” she murmured, letting out a long sigh. “A few days won't kill us...”

He pecked her forehead. “Thank you, Myriam... let us just pray for their safety for now.”

She wiped at her eyes, slowly nodding. “Sure... why not? Exercise our faith.” She shot a small beam up at him, her tail loosely looping around his. “Come on... we'll follow the river back. It spills into Lake of Rage, according to Latias.”

“So that explains the house,” he noted, snapping his fingers. “Only in Mahogany Town do they build their homes out of mahogany.”

Mew rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, Sherlock.”

He chuckled and leaned in, quirking his brow. “Elementary, my dear.”

She shoved him into the water.

*~*~*

For the rest of the afternoon, the Legendaries discussed their plans of rescuing their friends. Mew gave an explanation about the Tree best she could, with Mewtwo filling in the gaps of possible changes that had happened. He reluctantly even told them about Legion when pressured on about their enemy, bringing mixed emotions of anger and fear to the group. They shared Mew's desire to go back and destroy the Tree, but the clone managed to talk them out of it by pointing out everyone's inflictions. So they went ahead to develop a plan.

Lugia, Uxie, and Kyogre told their side of the story of how they infiltrated the Tree without being noticed (the beast mentioned he had made a mess of a field in one of the lower levels), giving them a visual idea of how they could enter—granted there weren't any guards, the wise fairy had noted. Everyone was given a chance to pitch in ideas no matter how ridiculous it sounded, which was almost appealed when it came to Deoxys' turn. They had to stop him after no less than a minute to call it out.

“I don't care what anyone says, I am damn well positive dressing in drag would get us in there!” he defended himself, shooting back glares at everyone.

When night fell and the temperature dropped, they went ahead to postpone the meeting for some rest. Though it was just to house Mewtwo and Mew for shelter, a small argument arose over who got to sleep in the house. Because of its small size and the ratio between males and females (though Giratina complained they all slept outside together with no problems), it was cut in half as to who slept inside. The females easily won control of the house, though Latias didn't want to sleep without her brother, and Mewtwo got a free pass so Cresselia and Mesprit could keep an eye on him. Leaving the rest of the males outside, everyone else went ahead to decide what rooms to get. It was easy to decide, for the majority chose to stay in the main room where a fireplace was built in.

As much as Mew protested, her mate insisted on staying in the same room. Cresselia wasn't happy with his decision, but she allowed him access to the room as long as she could come in and out freely. She never did come by, though even if she did, the two never noticed, having gotten engrossed in conversation and quiet arguments about anything to pass the time away. They strayed away from talking about the Tree, Legion, or anything pertaining to the last three days, wanting to maintain a light atmosphere about them. Though he sat at her bedside the entire time, they never once touched with the exception of a kiss good night.

Mew ended up stirring herself awake from a sharp pull felt inside her chest. Her stomach fluttered nervously when she glanced over at her mate sleeping in the windowsill. She frowned at how uncomfortable it looked, wondering how he could sleep like that (especially as injured as he was), then rolled out of bed. Gingerly, she left the room and entered the main part of the house, thankful she could still levitate. Glancing out the window at the dying fire, she went ahead to Teleport right beside it. Doing so, she jumped in surprise when she heard Entei snort and mumble in his sleep, and hurried out to the safety of the dark forest.

While she calmed herself down, two sides of her subconscious began to fight. One told her to go back to sleep so she wouldn't be worrying everyone sick when they woke up. The other was pressuring her to keep going, that Mewtwo was in the wrong. So far, her desire to kill the Tree was winning, and she advanced further into the forest until she realized she had no idea where it was. She waited to see if there was anything inside her trying to tug her into the right direction, but nothing came, only the inner squeeze of its silent call.

“Forget it,” she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. “I can't continue on if I don't know where to go.”

She turned around and headed back to the house. Without thinking properly, she flew for the window, and smacked her head against it. Biting back a startled cry, she looked up and nearly had a heart attack when she met with the wide-eyed gaze of Mewtwo. She backed up when he opened the window.

“Mew, what are you doing?” he whispered anxiously. “Where were you?”

She spun her head around for a few seconds. “Um... I-I had to go to the bathroom,” she sheepishly lied.

He scowled, sending a shiver down her spine. “You were going to the Tree.”

“Mew, we talked about this,” he interrupted her with a groan. “You said you would wait a few days, and you always give your word.”

“Mewtwo, there is no time to wait,” she protested. “Our friends are going to die if we don't save them. And even then, if we leave the Tree alive, it'll kill us. Can't you feel yourself getting older?”

“I have always felt my body aging, it has nothing to do with the Tree.” He tilted his head. “Can you?”

Mew let out a distressed sigh. “...not really...”

“Then we will be fine. All of us will.” He reached out to stroke her face, frowning at the dark lines streaking down her cheeks. His voice lowered to a murmur, “Come back to bed, Myriam. We will discuss this more in the morning. For now, just sleep.”

“Only if you get off the windowsill. Your back is going to be sore if you keep it up.” She grasped his hand. “Sleep with me tonight, Mewtwo.”

“Now, Myriam, the door is wide open, and there are ladies present, particularly Latias.”

She gaped at him. “Don't tell me Deoxys is corrupting your mind!”

With a smile, Mewtwo stepped away from the window, pulling her inside before closing it. “I only kid, dear. Loosen up a little.”

“That was a horrible joke,” she grunted, gently landing on the bed with her arms folded. A thought then popped into her head, pushing lightly down on the mattress (she had refused to sleep on the leaves from earlier). “Um... you're not going to break the bed, are you?”

“I am not a Snorlax, Myriam,” he smirked, sitting down beside her. He chuckled when she flinched from when the bed creaked. “If it is still intact from just sitting, it can take my full weight.”

She shrugged, scooting to the side. “Just checking...” Watching as he laid on his good side, she reached out to touch the sling. “Did Cress say when it'll heal?”

“No less than a few months,” he said, looking down at it.

“Why don't you use Recover?”

“Broken bones are different from lacerations. If I had my full power, I might have at least set it and waited for it to heal over.” He shrugged a little. “I never had to heal broken bones before, so I am just guessing here.”

Mew sadly smiled down at him. “You do have flaws after all.”

“What made you think I was not flawless?”

She shrugged a little. “I don't know... you just seemed that way. Didn't help you kept to yourself a lot.”

With a grin, he reached out and pulled her in towards him, giving her a small kiss. She let out a quiet gasp, feeling herself slip beneath him from the way he was leaning over her. She squeezed his shoulders to push him away a little, staring up at him. He gazed back lovingly, with no other indication he was thinking of a second meaning as he gently stroked her ear.

Mewtwo let out a low chuckle and pecked her cheek. “I am irresistible.”

“Just because you are saying that doesn't make it any less awkward.”

Shaking his head with a quiet laugh, he shifted so she rested beneath his chin. “Good night, Myriam, pleasant dreams.”

“I hope so,” she breathed out, snuggling closer. She relaxed at the feel of his heart against her chest. A smile found its way to her lips, becoming more convinced there had to be no other safe place than here in his arms. “`Night, Mewtwo... sweet dreams...”

Before she fell asleep, Mew happened to look over at the window. It was faint, but she was certain she saw the figure of a familiar girl standing over them, a bright smile on her face.

Good night, Myriam... welcome back.

*~*~*

A/N: Okay, I'm not setting a time for how long it'll take me to write the next chapter. This one just needs time to be written out, there's going to be a lot of things happening as we are nearing the climax.

*sigh* Thank god Mewtwo was able to save Mew. I think I would've had a heart attack if she died. Then again, same goes for any character in this fic.

It's kinda strange me reading Mew as a slightly more mature figure. I can always see a Mew as a cheerful, carefree figure, but Myriam gives a Mew a new side to look at. Its strange, but you make it a smooth transition for me. Thats a good thing.

I'm guessing next chapter they'll storm the Tree and something really bad is gonna happen. I'm hoping to do with the couple. Though I wouldn't be surprised is Legion reappears "possessing" one of the Legendaries. God that would be strange.

I admire your persistence in keeping this story going. I could never keep a story as good as this going for more than a few chapters, yet you have it nearing the climax. Amazing work, well done.

*sigh* Thank god Mewtwo was able to save Mew. I think I would've had a heart attack if she died. Then again, same goes for any character in this fic.

It's kinda strange me reading Mew as a slightly more mature figure. I can always see a Mew as a cheerful, carefree figure, but Myriam gives a Mew a new side to look at. Its strange, but you make it a smooth transition for me. Thats a good thing.

I'm guessing next chapter they'll storm the Tree and something really bad is gonna happen. I'm hoping to do with the couple. Though I wouldn't be surprised is Legion reappears "possessing" one of the Legendaries. God that would be strange.

Thanks for ruining the story. jk

Finally got around to read this. Fantastic job as always. Can't say much more other than God/Arceus/Whoever the hell He is (still confused on that) and destroy Legion. Or is Legion already "dead"?

*sigh* Thank god Mewtwo was able to save Mew. I think I would've had a heart attack if she died. Then again, same goes for any character in this fic.

Does that include Legion by any chance xD? Naw, you've shown your hatred for the demon many times, so that couldn't be it.

It's kinda strange me reading Mew as a slightly more mature figure. I can always see a Mew as a cheerful, carefree figure, but Myriam gives a Mew a new side to look at. Its strange, but you make it a smooth transition for me. Thats a good thing.

I also found it a little strange to give her a name, but years of liking names for Pokémon and having named Mew in another story (completely unrelated to this one) made this a lot easier to do. I just had to find another name, and that was a little more difficult. Thankfully, I was inspired to give her the name when I couldn't stop thinking of Moses' sister. Guess I had the Veggietales short in my head at the time, lol.

I was actually planning on having her give her name around the end of the story, but I felt it was more appropriate for her to tell Mewtwo after her near-death experience. It was either that or Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex.

XD When you live with someone for a while, you end up thinking like them whether you want to or not. JUSTIFIED! *fist pump*

I'm guessing next chapter they'll storm the Tree and something really bad is gonna happen. I'm hoping to do with the couple. Though I wouldn't be surprised is Legion reappears "possessing" one of the Legendaries. God that would be strange.

*insert Grinch smile here*

Originally Posted by Qymaen

Finally got around to read this. Fantastic job as always. Can't say much more other than God/Arceus/Whoever the hell He is (still confused on that) and destroy Legion. Or is Legion already "dead"?

Lol, well, I always tell my readers to take their time, but I'm just glad I now have the motivation needed for this chapter.

Um, I don't really get what you mean there, but I know how much you all want Legion destroyed. Well, I know what I'm going to do with him, so you'll see in the next chapter what happens to him. So no, Legion's not dead.

Thank you both for the reviews, but I'm sorry to say that you are going to be waiting for a long, long while. I'm hoping it won't take four months like chapter four did for me. I've just had trouble trying to write this out and figure out how to make everything work. It's going to have the same feel as chapter four, which I suppose is what's holding me back.

I swear to you, though, that you won't be disappointed, at least I hope you won't be. It's been a month since the last update, and it's only a quarter of the way done, so who knows. I'm just glad you're all very patient with me.

Hello, I just finished reading up to this point, and I have to say it was amazing. Between your stunning details, lovable characters, and oddly dark plotline, you kept me reading for hours. I especially liked the characters, and they all felt quite realistic, mainly mew, mewtwo, and legion. I can honestly say that I was worried for mew and mewtwo when legion tried to break their bond. Thank you for this psychologically haunting story that kept me up way too late. I've loved every word.

Also, if you're still workimg on this wonderous fic, please add me to the pm list. I wouldnt want to miss a bit.

Thank you all for being very patient with me, I'm sorry it took me as long as it did, but I'm just grateful you're all understanding about my predicament at the moment. Last night I was fretting with myself whether-or-not to cut the current chapter in two, as to not torment you with a ridiculously-long chapter (which would be understandable, as this is now the start of the climax), or to put the story on some kind of "hiatus" because I've run into a roadblock. I decided I might as well slice it in half and hope it was for the best.

Well, without any further interruptions, onward with the plot—I mean story! The next chapter will be the long-awaited climax, no lie! When it'll be done... ehh, I don't know. Hopefully not as long as it's been torturing me with.

Enjoy!

*~*~*~*

Chapter Nineteen:Last Chance

“It was a perfectly fine day, but I breathed in the cold breeze
In an instant, time stopped its needle
One-way, that cannot return twice
A lost child looks for a bright place”
-- “Forest of Grief” (translated), Ayane, When Cicadas Cry: Festival

*~*~*

The morning meeting took a bit to assemble, but even then the discussions went all over the place. Everyone was clearly worried enough about the fate of their friends they desperately wanted to start the rescue that moment. Shaymin was quick to persuade them to settle for a plan before it could get out of hand, until they realized they didn't know where the Tree exactly was. Mewtwo resolved it by mentioning the Mystri Stage, which Uxie also confirmed in recognizing the surrounding area upon infiltration.

“Well then, why not draw out a blueprint?” Latios made a suggestion.

“There's no use in mapping out the ruins,” he said, arms folded. “The Sinjoh Ruins have been eradicated by the crystals.”

“What about the Mystri Stage?” his sister worriedly asked. “Is it still useable?”

He shrugged. “I couldn't feel it...”

“It could be because it became the Heart of the Tree,” the clone explained, much to the surprise of the Sinnoh Legendaries. “Legion used it in the restoration.”

“How is that possible? Only a Legendary can run it, and even then it's difficult to use!” Darkrai shook his head in disbelief. “Besides, it's forbidden, at least not without permission. It has to call us over—well, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, to be exact.”

The renegade snorted. “Arceus gave us that right since he hardly ever comes down here. But hell, I haven't used it. One of you folks always got to it before I could feel it calling, and that's after Dialga and Palkia have felt it.” A few looked away, making him huff a little and return his attention to the front.

“He just said this Legion guy did,” Deoxys scoffed. “Weren't you listening?”

“But Legion is no Legendary I know of.”

Mew worriedly looked up at her mate, squeezing his hand. He caught her gaze when he hung his head. “He used Mew to do it.”

Many of them murmured in astonishment. Shaymin's eyes widened, mouthing a little before finding her voice. “H-How is she still here? We aren't immortal anymore.”

Mewtwo gently ran his thumb along the back of her paw. “Legion once told me he could keep Mew's body from aging at will. I know very little of what happens to the body during the activation of the stage, though from what I saw... it was painful.”

“Um... isn't aura supposed to be used to create the Tree or something?” Zapdos questioned.

Mew shivered, then nodded. “In a way, though a base is needed. You can't create matter out of thin air, something else has to exist to become something else.”

“That bastard made a giant freakin' crystal from the Mystri Stage?!” Giratina roared, startling most of the Legendaries when he shot up straight.

A memory of a gleaming blue object flashed into Mewtwo's head. “No... it was some kind of... shiny, blue material.”

Entei snickered. “He said 'shiny'.” Suicune lightly bopped him on the head to shut him up.

He hardly heard the beast speak. “Because it had this smooth look to it, I would say it was a stone. A very familiar stone... it had to have aura in it.”

The small feline gasped, straightening up. “Sir Aaron's gloves had stones in them! They held aura! So that explains...!”

The Legendaries leaned in when she paused. “Explains what, Mew?” Latias pressed.

She shook her head. “S-Sorry, I was thinking of something else... but that explains the base. Legion didn't make the Heart out of the Mystri Stage. He may have combined the two.”

“Isn't that still saying the Heart formed directly from the stage?” Heatran amended.

Mewtwo shook his head. “It looked intact last I saw it. The Heart just rests on it.”

“Doesn't mean it didn't end up fusing together,” Uxie pointed out, his grave tone of voice turning heads. “This is no ordinary demon. He apparently knows about the stage's abilities. It's possible he didn't activate the Mystri Stage, otherwise we would have noticed. If anything, he's keeping it awake, ready to use when needed.”

Cresselia paled a little. “Um... d-doesn't the stage work according to the user's wishes and desires?”

The fairy darkly looked up. His expression was all it took for the group to become somber, their hearts feeling like stopping that very moment.

The meeting was quietly adjourned.

*~*~*

The following couple of days were difficult to handle with a hint of paranoia lingering on their shoulders. They continued to talk over finalizing the rescue plan while they fussed over their own recoveries in between. For the most part, they didn't suffer many long-term effects and were able to perform tasks without complaints, so Mesprit was able to relieve them from her care. It left her and Cresselia more time for Mew to be their main priority (since Mewtwo was showing positive signs and mainly just needed a good eye kept on his arm). But to their amazement, she was found to be well enough they had announced to the Legendaries that evening they were heading out first thing in the morning.

As much as the clone wanted to tell them the reasons for her speedy recovery, he felt it was too personal to tell anyone else. He didn't doubt Mew had suffered the injuries they said she may have had, much like he never once questioned the miracle. He had a little issue with their clearance, but after they talked it over, he vowed never to let her out of his sight “to be on the safe side”.

“Honey, this is a rescue mission. You will have to pay attention to everything else at some point,” his beloved gave her reasoning later that night when he brought it up.

“I am just saying, Myriam, we need to be cautious about this,” he sighed, readjusting the sling's strap. “Legion never once stated he was officially through with you.”

“This isn't about me right now, Mewtwo.”

“It might end up that way.”

She shot up off the bed to wrap her arms around his shoulders. “I can take care of myself. I know the dangers now—”

“You do not know where he is or what form he is in,” he cut her off, a slight frown on his brows. “He is more dangerous now because we do not know what to expect.”

Mew averted her gaze to the window, watching Deoxys and Lugia trying to outwit each other in charades (or whatever the males were doing). She and Mewtwo had chosen to isolate themselves in the bedroom to talk things through after having let the others know beforehand. She was sure they hadn't been alone for more than fifteen minutes, and yet the chatter outside and down the hall had been nothing more than a low, buzzing background noise from the start.

Leaning her head against him, she murmured, “He may go after the others, though.”

“I am aware of that... but he wants you more.”

“But why? Why us?”

Mewtwo reached up to grasp a paw. “He wants nothing more than a body for himself and his followers. He claimed we would produce strong children... which is probably the ideal body for a demon.”

She raised her brows in puzzlement. “What makes him say that?”

Shaking his head, he attempted to move the subject elsewhere. “Myriam, are you still willing to kill the Tree by any chance?”

Annoyed he avoided her question, she replied anyway, “I am. But I can't do it alone.”

“Can we wait to purify it?”

“It's not purifying, we're neutralizing. That way, it'll make it easier to kill.”

“Has this been done before?”

“We're just calming it down, so it has been done before... in a way.” She grew a little worried at the thought, then reworded her answers. “Well... I suppose you can say that by purifying the Tree, we are making it neutral... though it depends on the strength of the one neutralizing it.”

Mewtwo looked over anxiously. “To balance it out, will it have to drain our life-source?”

Mew's brows furrowed. “...it shouldn't... but...” She went quiet as she reviewed it to herself. Her eyes then suddenly widened, raising a trembling hand to her mouth. Before he could ask what was wrong, she pushed herself away from him. He watched as she sloppily drew the curtains closed, then hurried for the door, taking a quick peek outside before quietly shutting and locking it.

He immediately got up and started for her. “Myriam, what are you doing? We have to keep it ope—”

She crushed a hard kiss into him, pushing him back to the bed and knocking the breath out of him. She let out a moan, and teasingly slid her tongue inside his mouth. He lay there in shock, feeling her hug him tightly to sensually stroke her hips along his torso. Regaining movement in his arm, he grasped her face to pull her away for air.

“Myriam! What was tha...?”

He trailed off at the forming tears deep in her eyes, her hands clutching his shoulders. Never had she been so open to him before, it was as though she had revealed a hidden persona. Panting, she kissed him again with the same amount of passion, ignoring the dripping slaver. “I'm ready.”

“Ready for what?” He winced when her tail lightly swiped across his abdomen.

“Please, Mewtwo... in case this is our last night... take me.” She licked his chin fervently.

Mewtwo quickly rolled her off him before scurrying up against the wall. “Myriam, you cannot be serious!”

Mew gazed up with a hurt look, then crawled over to hug him around the middle. “Please, dear... I promise to be quiet. We can be quick about it, no one will notice.”

“It does not matter,” he breathed out, shaking his head. “This is not the time nor place to perform such an act.”

“Mewtwo, what if this is our last night together?” she mewled. Her eyes skimmed along the numerous scars littering his body, fear squeezing her heart.

“That may not be the case. Besides,” he reached down to cup her face and rub away the drying drool, “if we went ahead and became intimate, if either of us does die tomorrow... What if by some chance I end up impregnating you tonight?”

The question made her pause for a few moments. “...well... then at least it proves you are capable of having children.”

“You are not getting it, Myriam.”

“What makes you think you get it? You've never checked to see if you are sterile, your defense is because you're man-made.” Mew turned her back on him when she moved to lie down, curling up a little. “If your clones could have children, chances are you can,” she muttered. “...as for myself...”

Mewtwo's heart skipped when she trailed off, wondering if she was ready to tell him. He sat back against the headboard and gazed down at her, waiting patiently for her to continue. His hearing briefly picked up the voice of Suicune yelling outside for the others to shut up, but it only held his attention for a few retorts. His mate eventually started to tremble from what he thought was the cold. Scooping her into his arm to hold against his chest, he spotted a tear rolling down her face before she snuggled closer, fingers gently clawing at his collarbone.

She whimpered something indecipherably for half a minute until she glanced up. “Mewtwo... remember a couple of years ago... um, where I had been absent for a long time? U-Um... I... please don't take this the wrong way, I-I'm still a...”

He laid a hand on her cheek in comfort. “Slow down, Myriam. Calm yourself down first.”

Mew gulped down a few breaths, leaning into his palm. “...i-it was horrible, Mewtwo... they did things to me... I had never been so scared...” She hiccuped on a sob and wiped at an eye. “I used to force myself to forget terrible memories. But this... I can't get it out of my head. There is no way I can, not while I keep having dreams... and after I found the scar...”

He tightly bit his lip, trying hard not to tense up.

“Honey... your hand's shaking.”

He quickly lowered it to her back, turning his head to hide his teary eyes from her. “Sorry... you were saying?”

She was quiet for a long, painful minute while he felt her stare. He struggled not to show signs of his lament, hoping there were enough shadows to hide him from view until he could compose himself. When he shifted a little in place, the rosy feline startled him by reaching out to touch his face. He refused to meet her in the eye, shivering beneath her fingertips and holding his breath.

“You know about...?”

He nodded slowly.

“...for how long?”

Mewtwo choked on a sigh. “O-Only a few days,” he stammered out, his eyelids drooping.

She leaned in. “How?”

He shook his head. “It does not matter... even if I had never known, I can feel how frightened you are in here.” Upon placing his hand over her heart, she pressed it closer without hesitance like she was treasuring it. “...you would have never been ready to tell me.”

She fiddled with his fingers. “...I-I'm sorry, Mewtwo.”

“Do not apologize,” he interjected. “I should be apologizing to you. I visited you only a few times not long after I had gotten word you returned. You never once showed signs you knew I was there...” His hand gave her paws a squeeze, then released them. “I left you alone to be in the care of others because I did not know what to do. How was I supposed to know they could not help you either? We left you to die... we betrayed you...”

She took him by the chin and pulled him down for a kiss. It was gentle this time, not a hint of passion was on her lips. It was unfortunately short-lived; he scarcely returned it when she broke away, caressing along his jaw.

“No... it was my fault for not communicating,” she murmured. “I saw you all come visit me... and I just stared through you all. I-I wanted to say something, really... I just could not bring myself to speak. My mouth... it refused to open the entire time. It was like I became dumb, you know? Which I suppose is what happens when someone goes through something terrible...”

Then Mew became at a loss for words, eyes showing signs of distress when she slid down to lay on her side. A bit unsure what to do, having frozen up a little when she distracted him from his own sober thoughts, he moved to kneel over her. She jerked a little at his sudden movement, blinking up at him in disarray. Carefully, he lowered himself to let his elbows support him up just as he touched her cheek. He felt a rush of heat rise to her face when she glanced down at his figure, and he realized in slight embarrassment his mended arm was resting on her lower abdomen. Quickly, he flipped onto his good side to give her space, though he saw with surprise she looked a little disappointed.

He rested his chin between her ears while he thought on it, then curled his arm around her and looked her in the eye. “Myriam, darling, I make this promise to you that you shall have a long and happy life from this point on.”

She frowned deeply. “You don't know that...”

His gaze softened to a sad look, and he silently kissed her. A small disgruntled whimper escaped her, but she let herself go without another protest when she opened up to lick his lips. As sensual as it was, he refused to allow her or himself to harden the kiss as such, and instead deepened the lip-locking. They laid there for what felt like ages, breathing each other in while their bodies steadily tightened the space in the need for warmth and physical contact. When her tail deliberately brushed along his lower abdomen, Mewtwo tightened his hold of her neck in warning.

“Dear, there is a time and place for everything,” he mumbled against her mouth. “For now, the kisses are suffice enough.”

She parted for a breath. “Just the kisses?”

He nodded, stroking the back of her head in apology. Her eyes dropped for a brief moment, then she pushed herself off the bed for the door to open it a crack. Glancing over at him, Mewtwo gave her an amused smile as he sat up, a quiet groan rumbling in his throat. “Cresselia will be checking on us at some point anyway. She is not going to be pleased if the door was locked, let alone if she caught us.”

Mew shifted a little in place before returning to him. He reached out for a hand only for her to straddle above his injured arm, straightening up to be eye-level with him. She trembled when he dropped his hand to rest on the small of her back, lightly pressing her to him. Hesitantly, she leaned in to snag a small kiss, reaching down to tug at the sling, almost desirably.

“You're scared, aren't you?” she murmured, looking at him beneath her lashes.

The clone pressed his forehead to her with a sigh. “Myriam... even if this somehow resulted in a pregnancy... I do not want Legion after you.”

“Let him.”

His eyes widened when his heart clenched. “Are you mad, Myriam?” he breathed out.

“I do not want to run anymore, and I do not want you to be alone with him again.” Mew kissed him once more, holding him by the jaw. “We may die tomorrow... but I do not want him to win the battle over me...” With a shaky inhale, she tearily met his gaze. “Take me, Mewtwo... just for this moment.”

It was still obvious from the look in his eye and his posture he believed it wasn't the right time for intimacy. She just frowned a little, wrapping her tail around his as she closed her eyes to lean against him. Upon him drifting his hand up along her figure to take her by the chin, she let out a small mewl which was stifled by his mouth. Yielding, she hoisted herself slightly above him, hardening the kiss and grasping him further until his fingers accidentally skimmed the claw marks on her neck.

“Mewtwo!” she immediately gasped, almost in a begging tone.

Parting, they eyed each other anxiously. Mewtwo trembled a little at her pleading gaze, spotting the hint of want in her watery depths. Glancing over her shoulder, he watched her lower their entwined tails to the bed where they sensually stroked. Returning to her eyes with a slight shudder, he let out a slow sigh. Tilting back her head, he pressed into her lips a little harder than before, bringing a drawn-out moan from when their tongues grazed from a single brush. Easing her mouth open, he stole a quick glimpse from her, gently lowering her to the mattress.

“Myriam, we need to be as quiet as possible,” he huskily whispered, shifting to kneel over her to put weight on his uninjured arm. She shivered the moment he nuzzled her, his movements slow as he kissed along her shoulder. “...if it becomes too much, let me know, and I will stop,” he added in a faltered tone.

Mew nodded and nervously swallowed. “I-I understand, Mewtwo...”

She immediately bit on her knuckles to repress a startled whimper when he tentatively ran his hand up a breast, throwing her head back with fluttering eyelids. He craned his neck to lightly lick her bottom lip, and she allowed him to casually trace along her tongue before they enclosed their lips to keep it covert. Her hands reached out for his arms, fingers tangling into the sling.

Having come by to check on them for the night, Cresselia raised a brow at the sight of the door nearly closed. She moved for the knob when she heard the bed creak accompanied by soft gasps. The noise made her pause, her breath catching. Feeling she was going to regret it, she carefully opened it a little to peek in, first noticing the curtains were a bit disheveled like they were drawn in a hurry. She followed the light over to the bed, her heart jumping at the sight of Mewtwo bowed over Mew, lost in a deep kiss.

She knew it was wrong to spy on them (even though she had eavesdropped on Mewtwo's heartfelt apology days before), but it brought a sense of sadness over her. Though flustered as she pulled back to cover her face, the scene unintentionally brought back memories and long-lost desires of intimacy. She found herself thinking back to Darkrai, musing over what could be going through his mind at that moment.

Cresselia hadn't realized she was staring off into space until Latias came up from behind. “Is something wrong?” she innocently asked.

The lunar swan quietly pulled the door nearly-shut to give her a smile, waving her hands around. “Nothing to report!”

Tilting her head, the dragon pointed at her face. “Then why are you blushing?”

“No reason!”

Frowning at the wide grin, she moved to look inside the room only to be shooed away. “I want to say good-night to Mew,” she objected.

She meditated on it, but never expressed an answer, watching the young female head back for the front room. Her thoughts drifted back to Mewtwo and Mew, wondering if they knew tomorrow's outcome. She had known for a long time the two were close friends, even having that belief their relationship was similar to how hers and Darkrai's was. It was only a few months ago she had noticed tension between them, and the looks of longing from afar. She had once asked Mew about it only to have her deny and contradict herself within a minute's time. While she never pushed the matter any further, it was then and there she knew the two held a special bond like what she shared with her counterpart.

Cresselia shivered, silently closed the door, and went to her room. As much as she wished they wouldn't, it was their one night together. She couldn't control how intimate they were going to be with one another, and even if she could, she wouldn't stop them.

But she knew it was sure to break a heart if either of them were to die tomorrow.

*~*~*

The group gradually woke up at dawn (some were forced to by Shaymin), and had a breakfast no one was in the mood to eat, but were persuaded otherwise. They had a morning prayer afterwards for guidance and protection, then once the last “amen” was uttered, they solemnly headed for the Tree. For the most part, they all were bunched together in their own small group of friends, holding hands or just making sure they kept some form of skin contact. None of them dared to speak a word, even when Entei randomly started bursting into song a few miles in. As bothersome as it was, no one had the heart to stop him, though after a while, Suicune barked at him to be quiet.

“I'm just trying to brighten the mood!” he whimpered defensively, hanging his head. “None of you even joined in.”

“Well, Entei, we're happy for you trying to cheer us up,” Latios started out, smiling back at him, “but even then, your choice of music is rather... obscure, to put it lightly.”

“You don't like it?” he muttered, looking like he was ready to tear up. “It just came to me...”

“Well, when you put it that way, it does explain the uniqueness of it—”

Deoxys quickly leaned in. “Yo, Latios, I'm all happy you're trying, and I'm letting you finish, but Cresselia has one of the best mood killers of all time.” He then shrugged and ducked before the swan could reach over to (lightly) smack him.

There were a few snickers at the comment, but it did little for the group. Though it encouraged some to strike up conversations, they became too melancholic, so they retained their silence and just stayed close together. Mewtwo began noticing a familiar chill when everything quieted down, knowing Mew was feeling the same thing when her tail tightly curled around his.

And then at the point of exhaustion, when the morning couldn't get more gloomier with its threat of rain, they reached their destination. Much to their astonishment, the surrounding area was covered in crystal spires, looking much like how the campsite in Cherrygrove was. They flinched away like they were going to be bitten if they laid a finger on anything, huddling even closer and slowing down to cautious gaits. Murmuring amongst themselves, they pushed through to a clearing, jaws dropping and gasps of awe escaping out of impulse.

While the Tree itself looked like how it was prior to its destruction, even standing proudly against a landscape of mountains, it had a dark, twisted look to it. Thanks to the ubiquitous crystals, it held an eerie, ambient light like bloodshed instead of a peaceful, healthy green it once had. Whether or not it was because of the fog, the pathway to the Tree was uninviting, if not hazardous. The vegetation alongside of the trail looked normal, but a close inspection revealed a hint of sickness to them.

Darkrai's face contorted in horror once he assessed the area. “My God... the Sinjoh Ruins... It's gone. I-It's been overtaken by crystals.”

Giratina swerved over to him. “This is impossible,” he growled. “Where's the Mystri Stage? It's still here, isn't it?”

Everyone looked over to Mewtwo for the answer, whose hardened gaze never left the Tree. He gave his quiet response, pointing high above them, “It lies somewhere up there.”

“What do you mean 'somewhere'?” the renegade snarled, squinting up at its height. “You don't know where the Heart is?”

“What do we do when we find it?” Heatran inquired of him. “We never did discuss it, did we?”

There was a moment's pause where everyone looked at one another quizzically.

“Well, for one thing, Mewtwo said the Mystri Stage was used to hold the Heart,” Shaymin slowly mused. “Perhaps the Heart is removable?”

Mew shook her head. “It's stationary.”

“Damn, there goes that idea,” Lugia muttered.

“Wait, would removing the Heart kill the Tree?” Mesprit asked.

“It would.”

“Since when did we agree on killing the Tree? I thought this was a rescue mission!” Deoxys threw his hands up with a scoff. “Dammit, guys, I thought we covered all of this.”

“You all can still stick with the rescue plan,” the feline assured them. “Mewtwo and I will be the ones who'll do something about the Heart.”

“You should have told us about this,” the hedgehog sighed, shaking her head. “But no matter. Only a third of us are missing, I'm sure it won't take more than half of us to get them.”

Most of them, after taking a good look at the Tree, glanced back worriedly. “It's pretty big,” Latias squeaked, fiddling with her claws. “What if we get lost and are separated?”

“Or get caught or attacked, which potentially leads to our deaths?” Darkrai added, getting a small wary glare from Cresselia.

“And the moment we walk in, what if there's this ominous choir complete with those creepy instruments humans used greeting us, thus symbolizing our impending doom?” Everyone glimpsed over at Groudon with a look of dismay. He shrugged. “Just saying.”

Giratina grunted, rustling his wings. “They have a point, most of them. Honestly, Shaymin, I think planning it out was a waste of time anyway.”

“Can we just go-o-o already?” Zapdos moaned, trudging forward and dragging his sisters along. “The longer we stand here arguing about what to do, the easier it takes for them to find us—”

Suddenly, a beam of ice skimmed by his wing and ended up freezing a tree. With wide eyes, everyone watched as Regice loomed over a hill to peer down at them, the dots on his face flickering rapidly. “Trespassers detected!” he announced in a chillingly empty tone.

“Aw, shit!”

Articuno and Moltres screamed and yanked their brother back to the group. The others gaped as the ice golem raised his arms to power another attack. Regirock and Registeel were the only ones who dared to go forth. “Regice, what has gotten into you?” the ironclad Legendary questioned in a pleading manner.

The dots on his face gleamed when he turned to look at them. “You abandoned me, you all did!” He aimed the ice beam to encase their legs to the ground.

“We did not abandon you!” Regirock gasped, quickly pushing aside their predicament. “We were too weak, we had no choice but to retreat! But we would never leave you behind on purpose!”

“Believe us when we say we wanted to go back and get you!” his brother shouted out, gesturing to the group behind him. “They will testify of it if you will let us explain!”

“You do not care for us!” Regice snapped. “You left us to die, to be a slave forever!”

“What are you talking about?” Shaymin piped up. “Slave to what?”

“Do not play dumb with me!” He shot a ball of ice in the hedgehog's direction, though she jumped back in time. “Regigigas and I shall not let you pass!”

As if on cue, there was a rumble, and the gargantuan pushed past a tree, towering over them menacingly. Tilting his face down, he reached forward and made a grab for the nearest Legendary, who happened to be Latias. She let out a terrified screamed, her brother hurriedly snatching her by the arm to pull her away. Even if he hadn't, the giant wouldn't have touched her, as Groudon clutched at the out-stretched hand and wrestled it back.

“Think about what you're doing!” he growled through his teeth. “We're your friends, Reg!”

“You are no friends of mine,” he rumbled, swinging his free arm to clobber him upside the head.

The titan stumbled along, landing on a group of spires with a hiss. Mew and Mewtwo lurched at a sudden wave of pain through their insides, losing their sense of balance. The clone managed to swallow down his bitter nausea, but his counterpart was too shocked to catch herself. The nearby Legendaries swerved around when they heard her vomit, eyes widening in terror at the amount of blood.

Shaymin, ignoring how ill she was feeling, quickly put two-and-two together and turned to the giant. “Groudon! Avoid the crystals!”

“Oh, like I didn't know that!” he spat out, lifting himself up. Glaring over at Regigigas, his eyes widened at the sight of the Colossal Legendary rushing toward him, rapidly spinning a limb around. “No-no-no-no-no—” The Dizzy Punch connected squarely with his jaw, knocking him back over.

Everyone struggled to remain standing from the tremor made, though the two partially-frozen golems were freed when the ice shattered. They hurried to help Groudon until Regice slid in their way. “Leaving so soon? I did not get a chance to say 'good-bye'.”

Registeel moved to shake sense into him. “Regice, we are sorry for everything we have done to you, but this is going too far! It is almost like you want us to die!”

“That is the whole point.” Shoving his hand into his face, he froze an encasing around his head, and pushed him back.

Regirock caught his brother, immediately working to chip off the ice. “Regice, snap out of it!”

The ice golem looked over at the young dragon, a menacing sheen glinting on his body. “How cute, a rescue mission,” he coldly growled. “I regret to inform you all that you came out of hiding for nothing. Legion gave us the command to kill on sight. But unless you surrender to us, then I might show a little mercy. Regigigas may not be that lenient.”

She swiftly shook her head and fought some more. “Why aren't you trusting us?!”

A chilling laugh escaped Regice. “Silly girl, you are starting to GET ON MY NERVES!” He shot a beam of ice out of his hands in the Eon dragons' direction.

Kyogre swooped in to block it with his fin. “This has gone on far enough!” he snapped. “You want a fight, I'll give you a fight!”

“Kyogre, ya damn fish, stay out of this!” his rival roared from the side, trying to fight off Regigigas and his confusion at once. “It's under control!”

Ignoring the titan's remarks, he turned to the others. “We have no time to stand around and gawk. I'll stay here and hold them off. You all go on ahead, I'm right behind you.”

Latias opened her mouth to protest only to have her brother clamp it shut. “Let me help.”

“No, protect your sister. I have Registeel and Regirock on my side, it shouldn't take long.” He flashed a toothy smirk. “We'll be fine. Besides, you need to all be on higher ground anyway. I predict a flash flood on its way. Can't have you being swept away on my watch.”

A few Legendaries flinched at the sudden crack of thunder, but more began to fidget when it started to rain. Shaymin found the will to hurry on down the path, glancing over at the whale. “Good luck, Kyogre, Golems... Groudon. Be safe.”

Saluting with a fin, he added, “Godspeed, chief.”

She smiled for a brief moment, then leered at the hesitant Legendaries. “What are you waiting for, an invitation? To the Tree!”

At once, they gave their comrades a quick grin and shouts of “good luck” as they hurried to the terrier's side. Regice moved to stop them until his oppressors stood in the way. Groudon had grabbed a hold of Regigigas' arms, snapping out of confusion with a smirk. As the rain intensified, he noticed the hiss of steam coming off of his body.

Though he rolled his eyes with a groan, he commented to himself, “Well, look at the bright side, the pain will keep me focused and pissed.”

With a wicked smirk, the Continent Legendary aimed a Hyper Beam into the colossal's back as he tossed him a few yards. “Hey, how about I shine a little light here?”

“No good, Groudon, it was to be raining today.”

“Screw you, I've made it sunny loads of times fighting you!”

“If this was me, it would have been flooded minutes ago.”

Groudon quizzically glanced over at his rival. “Then... was that flood prediction a fake?”

“It better be.” He hurriedly threw up a bubble of energy when Regice blasted a Zap Cannon, allowing it to be reflected off.

“What the hell does that me—” Regigigas tackled him to the ground and proceeded to punch him.

They felt the quakes of the battle behind them, but they dared not look back as they raced for the Tree. Mew kept her eyes open for any possible entrances, hoping its immune system hadn't been alerted. Luckily, she found a crystal-studded tunnel some yards off the path, and warned the others who were ahead to turn around. Even before they all arrived at the entrance, it was unanimous she would lead them through. After a brief explanation about the white blood cells' feral state, and a special request they all were to keep quiet the best they could, they continued on.

Every now and then as a sign the raging titans and golems were becoming increasingly more violent, there were echoes of rumblings and the tunnel would quake. At worst, the two mates would waver and feel nauseated, but they still advanced on. Cresselia and Mesprit worried over them more and more, wondering what they could do to aid them in their temporary illness.

“We appreciate it, but there is nothing you can do,” the clone sadly said when it passed for the umpteenth time. “Let us just be thankful the entire Tree is not suffering. Otherwise...”

They shuddered at the thought.

The group limited the amount of times they entered open fields to only check for their missing friends, to see where they were, or if there was another tunnel they had to reach. It wasn't until Uxie pointed out the crimson glow steadily becoming brighter that Mewtwo remembered Legion's claim of the connection between the spires and himself. Upon out-right telling them the fact, the cross rants made him discouraged.

“It's not his fault!” Articuno came to Mewtwo's defense. “He's been through a lot, and he probably just figured this out!”

Zapdos flailed his wings in her face as he attempted to shush her. “Use your indoor voice, Art!”

“I am!”

“Then lower it to my tone of voice!”

“You sound like you've smoked all your life,” Moltres smirked, elbowing him when he turned to glare at her.

Entei let out a loud gasp, earning him a lot of stares. “Zapdos, you've smoked?”

Suicune twitched. “Entei, until that blessed day comes when you can listen to what multiple people are saying at once, shut the hell up!”

Though taken aback by her snappish request, he took the time to think on it. “I don't think that's realistically possible to accomplish.”

“I am this close to pushing you off a cliff in a desert wasteland—”

“Suicune, no death threats,” Latios sighed. “You're just making things worse.”

“Yeah, sis, you're making things worse!”

“I heard him!”

“What have I told you about keeping your voices down?” Mew stepped in, a little fidgety. “Can't you hear your voices bouncing off these walls? You're going to attract something!”

“Oh, I'm attracting something?!” she snapped, swerving her head around to glare. “You see these idiots here? They're apparently attracted to annoying others for the heck of it!”

The feline wrung her hands. “Suicune, it's not their fault,” she whispered.

The beast snorted. “Yeah, like it was my fault Entei became this. You know, he used to follow orders very well, and he was capable of holding intelligent conversations and all that crap. Now he's become this blubbering idiot even after I took care of him for those godawful months!”

“Suicune, we can talk about this later—”

“You kidding?! This is the perfect time to get things off my chest since we're going to die anyway!”

Her brother started to tear up. “Y-You don't like me, sis?”

She leered at him from the corner of her eye. “I liked the old you! You were a great debater and powerful, tactical fighter, but now you're... this!” Slowly, she shook her head. “You're like that one clingy person everyone befriends because they felt sorry for them. Most of them get over that clingy stage overtime.”

Everyone cautiously leaned in, holding their breaths. Some of them knew what she was talking about, though they held their tongues about it. The fire beast frowned some more, then pointed at himself. “Have I gotten over it?”

A vein throbbed in her temple. “Weren't you listening to a word I said?” she snarled. “See, this is what I'm talking about, Entei! You don't listen, not anymore! If only you hadn't made that turn, we wouldn't be having this argument, now would we?”

The two siblings stared each other down for a few moments until Suicune huffed, tossed her mane, and headed further down the tunnel. Entei remained glued where he was, eyes showing signs he was gazing off into space to push the awful feeling away temporarily, but he couldn't hide his sadness. Mew shivered where she was as did the other Legendaries, unsure what to do to lighten up the tension. Slowly, they followed after the North Wind, shooting the silent beast a sympathetic glance on passing. Latias moved to give him a hug, even encouraged him to continue walking. Deoxys, as much as he wanted to speak out about it all, possibly even tell off Suicune or crack a joke, decided to let it go, muttering to himself it wasn't worth it. (Cresselia patted him on the back much to the slight surprise of him and Darkrai.)

Not another word was spoken for the next few miles. Though the heavy atmosphere lingered on his shoulders much like with everyone else, Heatran couldn't shake off a different feeling. He had meant to bring it up shortly upon entering the tunnel, but kept quiet about it in the hopes it was a false alarm. The further they climbed, the more ill he felt. There was something very wrong about it all, he just couldn't figure out why.

Uxie happened to look behind him, taking notice of how slow he moved. “Hey, are you okay back there, Heatran?” he called out, flinching from the slight echo.

The Lava Dome Legendary waved an appendage. “I'll be fine, I prefer being in the back.” He frowned and shuffled over to the wall, planting a foot against it.

Mesprit glanced over her shoulder at that moment, brows creasing in worry. She floated to her brother's side, grasping an arm. “Something's wrong,” she muttered.

Suddenly, Heatran shoved her aside. The strength of the push took her and the on-lookers by surprise, she barely caught herself falling to the floor. Spinning around to yell at him, the phoenix ended up screaming at the sight of an orange Kabutops pouncing through the wall and landing with a squelch on him, right where she had been. The others either screamed as well, spat out curses, or advanced to help him, attacking the blob. Mew gasped and hurried over, fists glowing in preparation.

Heatran, as much as he struggled against the gelatin hold, vigorously shook his head. “No, get out of here!” he shouted. “Go get the others before they catch you!”

She punched a hole through the mass. “We're not leaving you, Heatran!” she exclaimed, grasping one of his horns. She let out a surprised yelp when the blob shot out to wrap around her wrist.

He immediately bit it off to free her and headbutted her aside. “It's too late for me! All of you, go, now!”

They watched in horror as he was swallowed into its depths, and it seeped deep underground. Hardly any of them found the will to cry out his name or even weep. Mew floated over the spot it disappeared, the power in her hands wavering. Clenching her fists tighter, she served around to face the petrified group.

“Why are you still standing around, run!” she demanded.

After a fidgety start, the Legendaries scurried down the tunnel the best they could. Lugia and Giratina stayed in the back to be less of a burden and to help be the blockades for any possible attack from behind. There were a few random ambushes, though they bombarded them with special attacks before they could engulf anyone else. Suicune, who was still in the front, nearly skidded to a halt at the end when she came upon a large fork in the road, leading to several different tunnels. With a push by Zapdos (more like a harsh jab), she headed for one, only to turn around to face the others.

“I think we'll have to separate!” she called out.

“No shit, Suicune!” Deoxys exclaimed, rushing by her to randomly enter the tunnel she was going in.

Latios quickly placed a hand on her crest. “Ignore him, it's just a rush of adrenaline.”

She rolled her eyes, and huffed, “Sure it is.” After one last glance behind her, she went ahead and ran down another exit. Tightly grasping his sister's hand, the dragon pulled her along, going after the alien.

Impulsively, everyone broke into small, random groups. Mewtwo moved for a far-off tunnel when a harsh tug in his chest brought him to a stop. Whirling around, his eyes caught an opening a few levels above them. Mew, due to her blasting apart a cell that moment, nearly bumped into him, and swerved past for a nearby entrance.

“Mewtwo, what are you doing, hustle!” she cried out.

Tearing away, he hurried over to take a hold of her hand and pulled her along. “I know a better way.”

She frowned, shaking her arm free. “You don't know this Tree better than I do. That tunnel will take us to the Heart.”

“You have not been physically inside the Tree as long as I have,” he reminded her. “Let us go up there.”

Mew hardly glimpsed at it. “Mewtwo, this is still the same Tree. I know every single passageway, secret tunnels, where the best spots are for sunbathing, anything you can think of. I know it all better than I do the back of my hand—which I admit is rather pitiful.”

He raised a brow. “That was your Tree, this is Legion's Tree.”

“And I'm telling you, that way will take us to the Heart without any problems!”

They glowered at each other for a moment before they saw a cell in the shape of an Omastar leap for them from a nearby ledge. Sweeping her close, he spun themselves out of its reach, and shot up toward the tunnel. It started to pursue them, scurrying up the wall and pouncing when it got the chance. He dodged it with ease, though he was nearly caught off-guard by two new cells exiting the tunnel without warning, extending out their elastic appendages for them on sight. He and Mew pushed them back psychically when they passed on through, the clone picking up speed in the hopes they would lose them.

Unfortunately, it seemed the Tree knew where they were at all times. They were ambushed at every inopportune time, slowing them down and tiring Mewtwo out. After one narrow escape following another, his counterpart slipped through his grasp and quickly scanned the walls, patting the surface all the way down its length.

“Myriam, what are you—?” he started to ask worriedly, then was cut off by a yank on his tail. Promptly, he sliced the blob's tentacle off, and hurried up to his mate. “We cannot stop, we must keep going!”

“There's something here, I know it,” she muttered through her teeth, slapping her tail at a spot above her.

After blasting apart a cell with a Shadow Ball, he exclaimed, “We are being surrounded, Myriam! There is no time for goofing off, whatever you are doing!”

She shot him a look before making a frustrated grunt and zipping to the other wall. After several smacks, her heart jumped when her paw slipped through a spot with ease. “Mewtwo, in here!” she called him over.

He obeyed, and the moment he reached her, she shoved him into the hidden exit, and flew in after him, spotting him stuck between two crimson orbs carrying him up. “What was that for?!” he shouted, struggling to free himself. “You could have warned me!”

If the mood was a little different, Mew would be giggling at how cramped he looked. She just instead pounced onto a nearby sphere close-by, and scowled. “You're welcome, dear.”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Mewtwo sat up the best he could, trying to avoid scraping his head against the side. He scanned the numerous glowing globes around them. “What is this, anyway?”

“This is a vein, and these are the blood vessels, you can say. The cells won't get us here.”

“Are you sure?”

She bit her lip, shifting her weight. “Not really... I never saw them enter here before, that I know of.”

With a slow nod, he studied the orbs once again, taking notice of how rubbery and warm they felt, and the irregular closeness of them. “No matter... we are on a quicker route to the Heart, I have to admit. Good thinking, Myriam.”

She gave him a smug grin. “Told you I know this place better than my hand.”

He returned it, only to falter when he thought of the others' safety, wondering if they were having as much success as they were, if not better.

I dislike that you "turned" Regirock and Regigigas (though admittedly protecting the Tree was Regirock's duty in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew). But, it makes some sense. In the case of those left behind, I would probably be rather angry, as Regirock and Regigigas have shown. But now I'm scared for the others who were captured. I don't wanna see them turned.

So, the climax approaches? Awe. Some.
I'm just going to suppose it has a LOT to do with Mew and Mewtwo. More than normal. (That, and heavy use of the nausea)

Wow. That was a powerful chapter in my opinion. It saddened me to see all the Regis fighting like that, but I'm glad they got a part now. It also worries me that Kyogre has no idea whats happening with the weather. While he was also a minor character, I'm sad about Heatran's disappearance, especially because it seemed like you were going to develop his personality in the future. I can't help but think that Mewtwo's thoughts at the end are not going to come true. Great chapter; I can't wait for more

I dislike that you "turned" Regirock and Regigigas (though admittedly protecting the Tree was Regirock's duty in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew). But, it makes some sense. In the case of those left behind, I would probably be rather angry, as Regirock and Regigigas have shown. But now I'm scared for the others who were captured. I don't wanna see them turned.

I think you mistook Regice for Regirock X3. It was mentioned in the previous chapter that they were very regretful in leaving them behind, but they were too weak at the moment (and knowing most of the Legendaries, they had told them to keep going and that they'll catch up later). The reason why they're angry, though, will be revealed next chapter. It might be totally obvious, though.

So, the climax approaches? Awe. Some.
I'm just going to suppose it has a LOT to do with Mew and Mewtwo. More than normal. (That, and heavy use of the nausea)

Yes and no. The two do play an important part in this, however, the formatting of the climax is similar to that of chapter four, where we'll be seeing this in full circle so you can get the full effect of what is happening. Go make a mental note of each missing Legendary and prepare yourself. You may not be happy with the results--maybe.

Originally Posted by K'yoril

Wow. That was a powerful chapter in my opinion. It saddened me to see all the Regis fighting like that, but I'm glad they got a part now. It also worries me that Kyogre has no idea whats happening with the weather. While he was also a minor character, I'm sad about Heatran's disappearance, especially because it seemed like you were going to develop his personality in the future. I can't help but think that Mewtwo's thoughts at the end are not going to come true. Great chapter; I can't wait for more

Lol, yeah, I finally gave them a part xD. But I honestly didn't know what to really do with them, so I stuck them in the front like that. I wasn't sure how to show the whole fight, sooooo I "cheated" and cut to the others in the middle of the battle. The outcome, however, will be revealed in the next chapter, so yay?

No need to be worried, it's just a rainstorm, nothing major. Can't blame Kyogre for getting worried about it, though.

Yeah, I didn't know what to do with Heatran either. I feel bad for it, though, but consider that a warning as to what may be happening to the others. I had to set it up somewhere.

You must know this story all too well ;P.

Thank you two for reviewing! (Would have replied sooner, but I decided to wait. Yeah...)

Read first five chapters, skimmed the rest.
Well, it's good for a shipping fic, but..
Do they HAVE to swear every two seconds? And Mew is a guy. Also, why the alternacy between calling Celebi a girl and a guy? The concept is good on paper, but not when put to the test. I like how your writing is going, though.

And yet ANOTHER legendary centric fic? I are disappoint. Why can't people think of anything good? (>.<)

When you're done, you may consider remaking this as a oneshot, it's the kind of story that calls for that. But whatever floats your boat, Frank.

Sorry if that was kind of harsh, this is my first time reviewing ANYTHING and I'm a little review maniac. The epicness of reviewing might've gotten the best of me.

Also, Mew is extremely OoC, and maybe Lugia, Deoxys, some others. My favorite was probably Giratina. You got him spot on! I have always liked him, because Arceus seems like a nice guy and all, but he threw Giratina away like trash.

@ midnightjewelz - I hope I'm not scaring people away xD;. Lol, but hey, everyone's free to read at their own pace.

@ RetardRaichu - Ooooh, a change of review. Well, this should be fun. I appreciate everyone's opinion, and respect anything they have to say. I understand no one likes everything someone does, so I was expecting one of these very reviews. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hurt about it, I know my place, and have learned to take criticism of all kinds. So, I'll give my reasons the best I can.

Originally Posted by RetardRaichu

Read first five chapters, skimmed the rest.
Well, it's good for a shipping fic, but..
Do they HAVE to swear every two seconds? And Mew is a guy. Also, why the alternacy between calling Celebi a girl and a guy? The concept is good on paper, but not when put to the test. I like how your writing is going, though.

Well, for one thing, if you didn't like where it was going, you could have stopped instead of skimming. It's never a good thing to skim through a story. Just saying.

No one's swearing every two seconds. The way I see it, the average time one swears is... three minutes? (Okay, ignore that, I'm not good doing math at the top of my head.) However, this is a mature fic, and swearing is acceptable for a mature fic. I don't like swearing either, but not every character swears. It's more of those with a temper who swear, and it does show what kind of character they are.

If you want to believe Mew is male, fine, but some people see Mew either as a female, or genderless. I happen to be one of those who see Mew as a female. Same with Celebi and everyone else. And where are you seeing where Celebi's gender keeps changing? Care to elaborate?

And yet ANOTHER legendary centric fic? I are disappoint. Why can't people think of anything good? (>.<)

Well, it might not have worked because you didn't know what to do with it. *shrugs* Some people can pull it off, others can't. It just depends on the story. Honestly, I was a bit confused and worried as to how I would pull this off, but as time went on, I found answers to carry it forward.

Have you heard of Ensemble Darkhorse? Legendary Pokémon are considered that. And also, Legendaries are unique. Many people see them as a higher form of intelligence, and Legendaries are the only reason why the movies exist. And in many of these movies, they've had some kind of personality all of their own. And they were very interesting characters. You can't blame someone for writing about a character or two they like. I happen to like Legendaries, and though I am aware how many stories there are of them, every story is different. Thus, this adds to the uniqueness, since everyone has different views on them all.

When you're done, you may consider remaking this as a oneshot, it's the kind of story that calls for that. But whatever floats your boat, Frank.

Lol, Frank XD. This is a story that really can't be a one-shot to be honest with you. There's too much going on to fit into a single one-shot. However, I am thinking about making prequel one-shots on most of the characters. They may not be posted here, though.

Sorry if that was kind of harsh, this is my first time reviewing ANYTHING and I'm a little review maniac. The epicness of reviewing might've gotten the best of me.

Understandable. I'll be frank with you, my first review was a harsh one, but it was really more of spam ^_^;. But the longer you're on here, and the more you read and see the examples of reviewing, the better you get at critique. At least you wrote a full review instead of saying "I don't like your story" and that's it. Thank you for following the rules.

Also, Mew is extremely OoC, and maybe Lugia, Deoxys, some others. My favorite was probably Giratina. You got him spot on! I have always liked him, because Arceus seems like a nice guy and all, but he threw Giratina away like trash.

Mew is the way she is for a reason, everything's explained in the story. Lugia and Deoxys are the way they are because it's a little something my brothers and I used to do as kids. In fact, many of the characters here are pretty much remnants of how my brothers and I saw them, and portrayed them in our little (stupid) role-plays. Entei's stupidity was more of a joke between us, but I loved it when we made him dumb. While I did incorporate that into the story, I toned down the stupidity so it's a result of a head injury he had gotten years ago. Actually, I take it back. He's not stupid, he's just handicapped now because of the injury. He has his moments of maturity and intelligence, but for the most part, he's just childish. I do feel bad for writing him like that, but I've found a way for him to fit into the family, and thus he is one of my favorites to write.

Giratina is another one I have fun writing. I have tried really hard to keep him cynical, and I'm happy I've kept him in character, and that you are happy about it as well. But Giratina is a rebel, so it would make sense he would get banished. And like what Arceus said, it was for his own good, and it is noted that he is a little better as a person than he was before. Character development marches on!

Well, despite the negativity of your review, I'm happy you gave your opinion, and that you kept it from being a flame by a least explaining why it is you don't like certain parts, and that you did mention a positive aspect. So for your first review, it's a good review. Thanks for taking the time to read the chapters you did, and for letting me know what you thought of it.

@ midnightjewelz - I hope I'm not scaring people away xD;. Lol, but hey, everyone's free to read at their own pace.

@ RetardRaichu - Ooooh, a change of review. Well, this should be fun. I appreciate everyone's opinion, and respect anything they have to say. I understand no one likes everything someone does, so I was expecting one of these very reviews. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hurt about it, I know my place, and have learned to take criticism of all kinds. So, I'll give my reasons the best I can.

Well, for one thing, if you didn't like where it was going, you could have stopped instead of skimming. It's never a good thing to skim through a story. Just saying.

ME: Sorry, it's a REALLY bad habit.

No one's swearing every two seconds. The way I see it, the average time one swears is... three minutes? (Okay, ignore that, I'm not good doing math at the top of my head.) However, this is a mature fic, and swearing is acceptable for a mature fic. I don't like swearing either, but not every character swears. It's more of those with a temper who swear, and it does show what kind of character they are.

ME: Sorry, that was an exaggeration. It's more like every halfminute.

If you want to believe Mew is male, fine, but some people see Mew either as a female, or genderless. I happen to be one of those who see Mew as a female. Same with Celebi and everyone else. And where are you seeing where Celebi's gender keeps changing? Care to elaborate?

ME: Well, it's kind of a joke between my siblings and me, because we thought that his GR(U)BY (That's what I call Green/Blue/Red/Yellow. Geddit? ), especially his G sprite, looked fishy. Also, the way he acts in both of his featured movies was rather malelike IMO.

Well, it might not have worked because you didn't know what to do with it. *shrugs* Some people can pull it off, others can't. It just depends on the story. Honestly, I was a bit confused and worried as to how I would pull this off, but as time went on, I found answers to carry it forward.

ME: Yeah, I was eight anyway (>.>) That's why I said you pulled it off AMAZINGLY.

Have you heard of Ensemble Darkhorse? Legendary Pokémon are considered that. And also, Legendaries are unique. Many people see them as a higher form of intelligence, and Legendaries are the only reason why the movies exist. And in many of these movies, they've had some kind of personality all of their own. And they were very interesting characters. You can't blame someone for writing about a character or two they like. I happen to like Legendaries, and though I am aware how many stories there are of them, every story is different. Thus, this adds to the uniqueness, since everyone has different views on them all.

ME: I LOVE Legendaries but I think they're rather OU.

Lol, Frank XD. This is a story that really can't be a one-shot to be honest with you. There's too much going on to fit into a single one-shot. However, I am thinking about making prequel one-shots on most of the characters. They may not be posted here, though.

ME: Thank SpongeBob SquarePants. It's from my favorite episode.

Understandable. I'll be frank with you, my first review was a harsh one, but it was really more of spam ^_^;. But the longer you're on here, and the more you read and see the examples of reviewing, the better you get at critique. At least you wrote a full review instead of saying "I don't like your story" and that's it. Thank you for following the rules.

ME: I thought you were already Frank. xP

Mew is the way she is for a reason, everything's explained in the story. Lugia and Deoxys are the way they are because it's a little something my brothers and I used to do as kids. In fact, many of the characters here are pretty much remnants of how my brothers and I saw them, and portrayed them in our little (stupid) role-plays. Entei's stupidity was more of a joke between us, but I loved it when we made him dumb. While I did incorporate that into the story, I toned down the stupidity so it's a result of a head injury he had gotten years ago. Actually, I take it back. He's not stupid, he's just handicapped now because of the injury. He has his moments of maturity and intelligence, but for the most part, he's just childish. I do feel bad for writing him like that, but I've found a way for him to fit into the family, and thus he is one of my favorites to write.

ME: z0gm you did noobish rps with your friends too???!?? I was always Pikachu, sometimes Mewtwo or another random Pokémon and I randomly shocked everyone. Both nonSuicune dogs were retarded in all of our rps and Suicune was a brain. Celebi was a little obnoxious girlygirl, Mewtwo was the equivalent of Yzma (even frequently quoting her), Mew was ironically (considering his color) was an extremely manly dude, HoOh was all Boss, Lugia was a spoiled little girl, Articuno was surfer, Zapdos was skater, and Moltres was all epik, and.. Hm. I've forgotten one, haven't I? Oh that's right! Lapras was always really calm and Snorlax was like you'd expect him. I guess every kid did that.

Giratina is another one I have fun writing. I have tried really hard to keep him cynical, and I'm happy I've kept him in character, and that you are happy about it as well. But Giratina is a rebel, so it would make sense he would get banished. And like what Arceus said, it was for his own good, and it is noted that he is a little better as a person than he was before. Character development marches on!

ME: Rebels are epik! Bad Arceus! >:U (hits head with keyboard until Arceus is all they way into the ground)

Well, despite the negativity of your review, I'm happy you gave your opinion, and that you kept it from being a flame by a least explaining why it is you don't like certain parts, and that you did mention a positive aspect. So for your first review, it's a good review. Thanks for taking the time to read the chapters you did, and for letting me know what you thought of it.

ME: Thank you. Good night. (Here anyways)

Oh yeah! I disliked the swearing because what about the little ten year olds that capture (or try to) and battle with them? It's kind of messed up to think about that. (:|)

Oh yeah! I disliked the swearing because what about the little ten year olds that capture (or try to) and battle with them? It's kind of messed up to think about that. (:|)

Well, the kids wouldn't have understood them anyway XD. Not all of the Legendaries can speak to humans.

Okie-dokie, now that a lot of madness is out of the way for me, I have all this next week to write. I doubt the next chapter will be finished this week, due to its wicked length, but hopefully it'll replenish my muse. It's been a hassle trying to juggle schoolwork and other things along with this. So yeah, just letting you all know. I would've liked for the chapter to be finished so it would have been my Christmas gift, but aw well, what can you do?

Oh yeah, since I know you're out there, I just wanna tell my silent readers thanks for sticking with this so far. Your silent presences do mean more than you think.

I've read a lot of pokemon fan-fics so far and never considered them worth reviewing (although some were pretty interesting). But this has got to be the only one that's had me read all night as well (though think i passed out at 6 am due to exhaustion and strain on eyes though) :P. I hope you write more fanfics like this one, that have such depth and character development, and i will be a faithful follower ^^.

P.S. this is the first time i've ever considered posting for something, it was that good. I'm not really a poster lol

I've read a lot of pokemon fan-fics so far and never considered them worth reviewing (although some were pretty interesting). But this has got to be the only one that's had me read all night as well (though think i passed out at 6 am due to exhaustion and strain on eyes though) :P. I hope you write more fanfics like this one, that have such depth and character development, and i will be a faithful follower ^^.

P.S. this is the first time i've ever considered posting for something, it was that good. I'm not really a poster lol

o.o; It was never my intention to bring you to exhaustion, but I suppose it does its job if it keeps someone interested in reading it. I'm glad you're enjoying it, I just don't want you (and everyone else in general) losing sleep over it xD. And I do hope to continue making stories like this, I have quite a few I've put on hold for this, but chances are they might not be put on this site. Who knows, though I don't know many Looney Tunes and Kirby fans here, lol.

And don't worry, your first review did its job, though it won't hurt to practice writing reviews, as they are a writer's fuel and way of contacting their audience. I appreciate it a lot, thanks, Ranicula ^^, I needed the motivation. *puffs out chest and opens document*

I love all the detail you put in the story and i also like how you done your characters. the part i really like is how you given each legendary amazing characteristics. The Personalities are great for them. i love the way you use your words the plot is really interesting and not boring at all

I dont tend to read long fan fics but with this one it really grabbed me. you are an amazing. well done i enjoyed the fan fic a lot

Last edited by DragonKingUK; 29th December 2011 at 6:03 PM.

I am back again, and now made a new fic called The Pokemon Threat, it will have crossbreeds and mutated Pokemon in it, hopefully it will be my best, but am not sure, reviews would be VERY welcome.

Well, here I am from the review game, of which you are still the next writer to review. Anyway, I'm reviewing the first chapter.

OPENING: Great. The shock of the initial statement was a good touch. When I first opened up the fic, I was greeted by an introduction to a great plot. The focus on the legendaries, even though I knew it coming here, was an interesting concept. The whole idea intrigues me, and kept me wanting to read.

WRITING: Your style's great. The word choice, especially. One thing that could use work, though, is description. I found it a bit hard to visualize some parts of the chapter, so including a bit more of it might help. You may have already fixed this later on, I guess, but this is just a one chapter review, so moving on.

CHARACTERS: Pretty good, but they could be better. There were quite a few of them, and the story did only just star, so it's understandable that not all of them are fully developed. It may have been better, though, to focus more on the main characters. I really had completely forgotten that Mewtwo and Mew were even there for a while.

PLOT: Shaping up extremely well. The idea of the legendary Pokemon of the world teaming up to stop a war is a very interesting concept to me. That combined with Mew's illness and Mewtwo's reluctant help look like a great story beginning to form.

All in all, awesome. I don't usually read shipping fics, but this is easily the best one I've ever seen.

-TA

My fan-fic(Credit to Gelatino95 at Crazy Dragon Graphics for the userbar) Author's profile And here's an awesome RPG. It has dinosaurs!And a sprite comic, because I can't draw!

I'm going to do the first chapter for the Review Game first. After that, I'll work on catching up as I can.

So, let's get started.

Chapter One: Solemn Hour

“Master, with anguish of spirit I bow in my grief today
The depths of my sad heart are troubled. Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish Sweep o`er my sinking soul,
And I perish! I perish! dear Master. Oh, hasten and take control!”
-- “Master, the Tempest is Raging”, Hymn 105, verse two

As a start, this works out quite well. I don't usually see people manage to use this very effectively, but in this case, you pulled it off. Your selection of a passage (well, a hymn in this case) is well-suited for its placement at the very beginning of the story; it drew me in.

“WHAT! A world war?!”

Startled by the sudden outburst, Suicune bowed her head, her once-flowing mane drooped over her arched back. “Y-Yes, sir. Sinnoh was bombed by Orre, and the other regions are getting ready to come defend it. It's more likely than not to be a... world war...” The legendary North Wind grew silent, stricken with sorrow and aging before the Guardian's eyes. The ribbon tail refused to undulate about the legs, it instead lay trailing on the ground. Her crest laid upon her forehead lost its shine and was now a dull, melancholy green. Her delicate fur was suddenly noticed to be smudged with dust clinging to her in clumps. Black and blue surrounded her dull eyes, indicating her lack of sleep. She was pitiful, unworthy to stand before someone whom she was once equally revered to.

Ho-oh nodded at his creation before craning his neck to the red-violet sky. It was still daytime, past noon, but it was cloudy—rain was probable. Though he looked forward to rainstorms, he feared these rains. Pollution had infected the vapor, turning it into acid rain. He became hesitant to fly around and create his famous rainbows. But then again, he was finding himself unable to fabricate them. Once able to shine with the colors of the rainbow, the phoenix could now only gleam at a perfect angle, his feathers now worn and battered. Unless the sun hit him just right, he wouldn't be able to glow. The crown atop of his head was being pulled by gravity, hanging in sight, and his fiery eyes were burning out. It was unclear whether they were becoming mortal, or if the stress was getting to be a huge burden.

First off, I'm not quite certain the description is completely to my liking. It certainly isn't bad, I'll say that off the top, but I think it might be a little too extensive for my tastes. I don't want that to sound like too much of a complaint, though, because your writing style is otherwise excellent. Only two paragraphs in, and I know Suicune and Ho-oh rather well for being so early in the story.

So far, I'm intrigued quite a bit by the plot. From the very first line, you jumped right into a rather intense situation, but while it would be easy to lose that pacing, you managed to follow it up sufficiently enough so the pace would be sustained. This is helped by how well fleshed out Suicune and Ho-oh already are.

I also want to point out that even though little has actually happened so far, we know quite a bit.

The world had become more sinful to the point the Legendaries didn't dare show their faces. They could feel the evil expanding, and feared it was going to reach them as well. This fear was what caused them to start wilting from their high positions. As pollution became thicker and more prominent, Celebi was struggling to keep plant-life prosperous, resorting to using his life-source to do so. The last time Ho-oh saw him, he was beginning to turn a rusty color of rot. The eyes were still bright, but it wouldn't be long before they would dim. Jirachi, many years back, had eventually broken free of his sleeping spells, now using the stored energy from the Millennium Comet as his powers. However, because he never knew of the real world, it became a gut-wrenching experience for him. His cheerful face transitioned to a blank mask, and his wishing powers depleted. Darkrai, though he lived off nightmares, was being possessed with demons from the people he tried to haunt. It grew difficult for him to find true fear to feed, and he fled to isolate himself away from civilization. Even Giratina had to get away from the world, and would only come out of his dimension if the Legendaries needed him.

It really hits me hard how some of the Legendaries are changing due to this threat that you're detailing. Celebi and Jirachi are especially poignant examples of this, along with the struggles they have with their powers now. It's also a good idea to show the 'darker' Legendaries, like Darkrai and Giratina, having problems.

However, even though all the Legendaries were being afflicted by the ever-increasing evil, Mew was hit the hardest. As the world grew more wicked, she became ill, unable to properly do her duties as Guardian of the Tree of Beginnings, and keep her home, the Amazon, from being destroyed. Her powers started to weaken, and her optimistic nature diminished. Unwilling to eat, and already tiny as she is, Mew lost weight. A few times she had mentioned she was developing suicidal thoughts from the stress she was receiving, but thankfully never acted upon it when her friends came to check up on her daily. Even so, when he saw her months ago, she didn't look herself, more notably in the eyes. Her sapphire eyes used to sparkle day and night from her pure soul. Now, she had shown her experience at last, and her innocent spirit had been broken. The poor thing was all that was left of the sweet creature he once knew.

I notice a few things in this rather striking paragraph. For one, you seem to focus on the eyes as a point of expressing condition. This is effective, but it could get repetitive. You're avoiding that by attaching reasons (ie: "sparkle day and night from her pure soul") to the eye references.

That said, I think this paragraph may still have gone a bit over the top. I'm particularly hit by the "suicidal thoughts" part, which just felt a little forced. It turned me off a little.

It had been decades since many of the Legendaries saw each other, and thus the gathering felt more like a memorial than a conference. Old friends worriedly examined each other, taking in the shell of what was once their glorified selves. Life-time rivals only stared pitifully one to another at what remained of their strength and boisterous powers. Siblings huddled together as though trying to hold themselves up higher for a little longer, leaning on each other for support or comfort. No one spoke, nor sent telepathic messages across the field, instead sitting deathly silent in their assigned places, waiting for the meeting to begin. Ho-oh stood at the forest's edge, watching the skies and the surrounding land. There were a few still unaccounted for, but they were coming, Suicune made sure of it. Besides, none of them would dare ditch a gathering important as this. Had it been more of a casual assembly, he wouldn't have bothered taking the time to usher them into the clearing, and there'd be plenty of empty seats sticking out from the crowd.

Hmmm. I find that it may be dragging a small bit here, but 'gathering' scenes don't usually sit well with me. It is a necessary scene, though, and you do handle it well.

The dynamic between Ho-oh and Suicune is intriguing to me, though. There's an interesting master/deputy relationship that I see developing between them, and I think it could hold some potential to affect the other characters later.

Each took turns looking at one to another, and the eldest, Azelf, replied quietly, “To be honest, we don't know. We haven't left each other's company for quite some time.”

“Fifteen years and seven months,” Uxie muttered, head still dropped. One of his tails weakly flicked.

I'm a little confused here. They've abandoned protecting the lakes? I know I'll get an explanation later, though I probably would feel better if I had one now. I would like to know more about the circumstances around this sooner.

Finally turning his head, the bird acknowledged the beings at his side. He had not seen the psycat in years, but nothing was out of the ordinary in his appearance. Mewtwo still stood proud in place, tail curled behind him in tranquility. His bony arms remained at his sides, hands clenched in loose fists. The color was still visible even in the face, showing he was taking care of himself. Meeting his gaze briefly, Ho-oh wasn't surprised that the feline's eyes were hard and vibrant as ever, even though the stare was calm with decades of peace he had managed to find. Levitating close by was his counterpart, tiny in contrast to her clone. She refused to look up at either of the two, preferring to keep her eyes on the ground. She wasn't in shame, but her broken spirit caused her to retreat into her mind, forcing her to blank out and barricade herself from the world. By the looks of how attenuated she became and the wavering of her levitation, Mew still wasn't eating; how long ago she last ate, he couldn't tell. From what he knew about her physique and metabolism, she shouldn't still be able to hold herself up.

As though he had read his mind, Mewtwo serenely expressed, “When I went to fetch her, she had grown too weak to transport herself. She was lying in the Tree, awaiting death I assume.” A faint, rather protesting whimper came from the mentioned Legendary at the comment, though they could see in her pale eyes she wasn't subconsciously present. It was believed among the Legendaries that when Mew withdrew into her mind, she tuned out her surroundings. There was a chance she didn't hear a word.

I'll be honest, this is the first part I really don't care for much at all. I don't like some of the wording (psycat?) and, to be brutally honest, I'm finding it a bit hard to swallow this kind of personality coming out of Mewtwo. It just doesn't feel right.

Of course, I could be wrong and he may improve his personality later on. I hope that happens. That said, Mew's presence here is rather provocative of speculation through her condition.

I would like to point out that it really feels like it's beginning to drag here, and I would like to see more happening. Also, I understand that you really want to get across how terrible the world is now, but I feel like I've gotten the idea by this point and I don't feel like I need to be reminded so vividly as often anymore.

The tiny terrier was already in her place, choosing to take the form of her Sky Forme, as her Land Forme was too squeaky and quiet. Having once stood tall and proud, Shaymin's petal scarf had wilted into an unhealthy brown, frayed at the edges. Her fur was matted and dusty, ears drooping to below her chin. Casting her eyes about mournfully at what remained of the mighty Legendaries, she began in a hard voice:

When you say "tall and proud," I assume you mean in relation to Shaymin's body, correct?

“Brethren and sisters. We have been called together because the unthinkable has happened. It's been rumored, if not yet declared, that we are to be in a world war. This morning, at approximately 0500 hours, the beloved region of Sinnoh had been mercilessly bombed by Orre.” A few gasped murmurs from those who hadn't heard the terrible news livened in small groups. Others bowed their heads in silent respect. Shaymin continued. “The damage done is monstrous and heart-breaking. It is believed thousands of humans and Pokémon have lost their lives in this attack. Thanks to a scoping of the area by Rayquaza and Giratina, we have assembled the damage reports.”

The gathering held their breaths as Shaymin closed her eyes in thought. She gave the account slowly and solemnly. “Judging by radiation percentage collected, the first of Orre's aircrafts flew over the south-western portion of Sinnoh. There were no major cities in that area, but they dropped one of their bombs either intentionally or through some freak accident. Believed to be the largest of the bombs, it landed on Twinleaf Town, destroying the entire community and its surrounding areas as follows: Sandgom Town; Jubilife City; a portion of Canalave City at the south-east section; Lake Verity.”

Okay, now I'm confused slightly. This is the action I've been waiting for, but it brings some new questions that rise up in my head.

What is the balance of power between Pokemon and humans in this world? To this point we have only seen Pokemon, and this is the most explicit mention of humans yet. I understand now that the humans' actions are what is destroying the world, so is this a world where the humans and Pokemon once had a deeper bond but it went bad?

Also, Sandgem Town.

“And we're awfully sorry for what has happened,” the Gratitude Legendary acknowledged, bowing her head slightly.

I don't fully understand the context of this line. Is this a general, wide-reaching apology ("we're sorry this had to happen to you") or a specific apology ("I'm sorry it happened to you" as in apologizing for taking the actions)?

“Deoxys, thousands of people and Pokémon died because of this!” Cresselia blurted out, feeling ready to go into hysterics. The crescents on her back gave a weak glimmer in the light as she leaned past a startled Darkrai for a better look. “This is why they're going to war! It's a catastrophe!”

I like the inversion of expectations between Cresselia and Darkrai's personalities. You would anticipate that the opposite one would have the personality that each one does.

“Same reason you are, toots,” he cheekily said.

Deoxys is rapidly becoming my favorite out of this entire group of characters. He's incredibly entertaining, and the arguments beginning to sprout up around him are livening up the story.

“One of our most gentle members has begun to release the beast that threatens to consume us all. The world's demons are upon us, but it's up to the individual to allow them to possess or to continue battling until the end. It's fortunate on Cresselia's part that she is surrounded by friends at this time, but what if no one was around her? What then? Legendaries, this is a dangerous time to be cocky. We cannot afford to fight with one another. Your idiotic rivalries have to end now like they should have centuries ago.” He noticed Groudon and Kyogre side-glancing at each other from where they stood (or in the whale's case, half-submerged in the lake that rested off a ways). “As of today, no one is allowed to return home without being accompanied, if you haven't been already. Siblings shall share the same resting place. Friends shall be neighbors. Rivals shall be the friends. Make up your differences and find other ways to get along. While the whole world may be in war, we must not be part of that war. As protectors of this world, we must be the example.” With a curt nod, Ho-oh briskly walked back to his seat, giving Shaymin the floor.

This paragraph ties the important parts of what's happened so far together quite well. It was easy to know that the evil of the world was destroying them, but this establishes the mental and physical effects on the Legendaries in even more explicit terms. The roles they must take up make sense.

But then something blindsided me like a speeding train: Ho-oh walked back to his seat?

though Latias cried out happily and gave him a hug (he was quickly rescued by Latios).

Stylistic difference, but I personally don't care for parentheses in description like this. I would have written it as "...gave him a hug, though he was quickly rescued by Latios."

I have been receiving reports of unusual weather abnormalities across the globe, mainly in the seas.

I think I know the reason for this happening, and it kind of surprises me the Legendaries don't. Though, on the other hand, if they do not understand human science, it could be explained.

There was another silent moment before Rayquaza cleared his throat in the back. “Um... do I really have to go back to the ozone layer?” he wondered, fiddling his claws. “I'm not too sure how many of you know this, but there's too much crap up there, and it hasn't been thinning out. As much as I like the view of the earth and space and all that, I can't stand seeing this hunk of tin cross my vision or bump into me every few minutes. I may have been taking out my anger on them and trying to clear my home out, but either they just keep sending more or it's only getting worse.”

You know, I really like this. This is an implication of Rayquaza residing in the ozone layer that cannot really be fully addressed in canon, but I like the idea a lot here. It fits perfectly in the setting you've established.

“Then I will take her with me.” The clone sharply stood up before the two, locking eyes with the Sky Guardian before him. “I do not wish to be with either of you. Honestly, I prefer going alone. But if you insist, then I will give in to your demand just this one time. And only this once.” His eyes illuminated glaringly to stress his seriousness, though his answer managed to please Ho-oh.

I don't know, I still can't really fathom Mewtwo in a conference of naturally-occurring Legendaries yet. Something just feels off.

When the great phoenix craned his neck to look back, Mewtwo had already departed where he stood, Mew gone with him. Shaymin backed up, eyes threatening to brim with tears, head bent in a silent prayer. Sighing, he raised his vision back to the heavens. “May Arceus be with us all.”

*~*~*

A very strong ending. You left right on the point where things would start to happen, but not where the cliffhanger is infuriating because of its placement. What you've done is get the reader excited for what will happen next while not actually giving any of said events yet. It's an excellent place to end a chapter.

Overall, I'd sum up my thoughts as positive to mixed-to-positive at worst. The story, judging by the first chapter, has a large hand of strong points, among them a rich setting that is dramatically different than what one usually sees in a Pokemon story; an incredibly likable cast of characters with many differing personalities; strong writing and finally, smooth, natural dialogue that never felt out of place. However, the many pluses are tempered a bit by a few negatives. I'm sure that the plot will begin picking up soon, but by this chapter alone, it's moving very slowly. The slow pace is not to a fault, it is just harmlessly slow. Also, while the characters were very good, you introduced a lot of them all at once, and as a result, they had to jockey for spotlight, and some - like Raikou and Entei - felt tacked on. I feel that if you introduced them more slowly, piece by piece, everything would work out better.

Despite those few downsides, overall, I'm quite satisfied. I will be back for at least another chapter, for sure.

I think I've held off on not replying to reviews long enough. Let's do this. *cracks knuckles*

Originally Posted by DragonKingUK

I love all the detail you put in the story and i also like how you done your characters. the part i really like is how you given each legendary amazing characteristics. The Personalities are great for them. i love the way you use your words the plot is really interesting and not boring at all

I dont tend to read long fan fics but with this one it really grabbed me. you are an amazing. well done i enjoyed the fan fic a lot

I can see why this wasn't approved for the Review Thread, but I don't doubt you have read at least some of the story. I do wish you would explain why you liked some of them, but it's the thought that counts ^_^. So thanks for that!

Originally Posted by treeko's awesomeness

WRITING: Your style's great. The word choice, especially. One thing that could use work, though, is description. I found it a bit hard to visualize some parts of the chapter, so including a bit more of it might help. You may have already fixed this later on, I guess, but this is just a one chapter review, so moving on.

Yeah, the first chapter's probably not the best place to pick out the description, now that I think of it. Like I'm sure many people will agree to, the first chapter is that one chapter the author tends to find fault in the most, because, well, it's the first chapter he/she ever wrote. They would get better over time, and it really is the writer's job to go back and fix up things to match their current style. I've been meaning to do that here. On FanFiction, I have gone back to fix up mistakes, I just haven't done that here, mainly because I wanted to wait until it was finished so I could have an entire week to just really fix up chapters. *shrugs*

Yeah, I'm lazy.

CHARACTERS: Pretty good, but they could be better. There were quite a few of them, and the story did only just star, so it's understandable that not all of them are fully developed. It may have been better, though, to focus more on the main characters. I really had completely forgotten that Mewtwo and Mew were even there for a while.

And the funny thing is, Mewtwo and Mew ARE the main characters XD. But the Legendaries have as much importance as they do, so I wanted to have them all there. It probably wasn't the right choice, but I did my best. I think I developed Ho-oh more than I did the two.

PLOT: Shaping up extremely well. The idea of the legendary Pokemon of the world teaming up to stop a war is a very interesting concept to me. That combined with Mew's illness and Mewtwo's reluctant help look like a great story beginning to form.

All in all, awesome. I don't usually read shipping fics, but this is easily the best one I've ever seen.

-TA

Thanks, Treecko. Glad you like it, and though I don't expect you to, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story ^^.

All right, Butler, I'm gonna do my best to answer.

Originally Posted by The Great Butler

As a start, this works out quite well. I don't usually see people manage to use this very effectively, but in this case, you pulled it off. Your selection of a passage (well, a hymn in this case) is well-suited for its placement at the very beginning of the story; it drew me in.

Hmm, so now I'm hearing two different sides: some get pulled in immediately from the start of the chapter, others was drawn in because of the hymn. People have different ways of being attracted, so I find that interesting.

First off, I'm not quite certain the description is completely to my liking. It certainly isn't bad, I'll say that off the top, but I think it might be a little too extensive for my tastes. I don't want that to sound like too much of a complaint, though, because your writing style is otherwise excellent. Only two paragraphs in, and I know Suicune and Ho-oh rather well for being so early in the story.

Yeah, back in the day (and somewhat still today), I was big on description. I was always told "you need more description here", and I've tried to make sure I had a good description of what was going on, on the surroundings, and so forth. I do realize I tend to over-do it, but how I over-do it always eludes me, since I don't want too little, or even too much. So while description is one of my best abilities, I suppose I let it get to me quite often. I'll be doing a final edit sometime in the future, so I'll make sure to pay attention to the descriptions.

I notice a few things in this rather striking paragraph. For one, you seem to focus on the eyes as a point of expressing condition. This is effective, but it could get repetitive. You're avoiding that by attaching reasons (ie: "sparkle day and night from her pure soul") to the eye references.

That said, I think this paragraph may still have gone a bit over the top. I'm particularly hit by the "suicidal thoughts" part, which just felt a little forced. It turned me off a little.

I think I have an eye fetish XD. But I love eyes, and I actually refer to them a LOT in this story. It could be the whole "windows to the soul" thing I really love about eyes, but I find them beautiful, and you really can see emotion through them. Especially since in cartoons, film and art (pfft, I should just say "art"), eyes are used to their advantage.

xD I always knew there was something off in the beginning paragraphs, but I guess I did go a little too far there.

Hmmm. I find that it may be dragging a small bit here, but 'gathering' scenes don't usually sit well with me. It is a necessary scene, though, and you do handle it well.

Oh, good, I was sure I knew I wrote the conference well, I remember enjoying writing it out. Of course, I had to get used to the characters I was going to be using throughout the story, so technically the whole cast of characters throughout the story could be technically a "gathering" scene wherever they are. Because they gather as a group at the end of the day? *shrugs*

I'm a little confused here. They've abandoned protecting the lakes? I know I'll get an explanation later, though I probably would feel better if I had one now. I would like to know more about the circumstances around this sooner.

^_^; It made sense back then... but I figured it was because the whole world was falling apart, and it affected them in such a way, they couldn't be separate for too long? I can't remember anymore why I had that there. I guess it was the whole "they're siblings" thing that made me remember my own brothers. I don't like hanging out around them a lot, but I don't like being separated from them for long periods of time. Especially at a hard time.

That's my excuse I know of right now. *shrugs (again)*

I'll be honest, this is the first part I really don't care for much at all. I don't like some of the wording (psycat?) and, to be brutally honest, I'm finding it a bit hard to swallow this kind of personality coming out of Mewtwo. It just doesn't feel right.

Yeah, I need a better terminology than "psycat", but I really can't think of anything, and I don't want to always call him "clone" even though he is. So that has always stuck with me through the years. Every time I write it out, though, I'm always thinking "Someone out there doesn't like that word", and I've made it a goal of mine to come up with something else to call him. But I haven't yet. I have tried to keep from using it a lot, but I have issues with seeing names being mentioned once every paragraph or two. It bugs me for some reason, and pronouns get very vague very fast.

When you say "tall and proud," I assume you mean in relation to Shaymin's body, correct?

It was more of a "bold" personality, that she always has her head held high. I should have worded that differently

Okay, now I'm confused slightly. This is the action I've been waiting for, but it brings some new questions that rise up in my head.

What is the balance of power between Pokemon and humans in this world? To this point we have only seen Pokemon, and this is the most explicit mention of humans yet. I understand now that the humans' actions are what is destroying the world, so is this a world where the humans and Pokemon once had a deeper bond but it went bad?

Also, Sandgem Town.

Um... well, thinking back to the role of humans in the story, while I'm not portraying humans as beings that like to destroy the world for the heck of it, they're more-or-less doing it unintentionally. But what I touch on more than anything about the humans is how they forgot their origins as time went on. It was a way to tie it to our world, where people just forget who they happen to be, we're fickle-minded that way. The world gets more and more chaotic as years go by, and we somehow accept that, thinking it won't affect us in the long-run, as we're supposedly safe in our own little part of the world. But nevertheless, it always catches up to us.

This is how I portray the future of the Pokémon world. While there are good people, the bad people seem to be the ones in control, and thus they are more prominent. And actions rub off on people very easily. Humans and Pokémon are always said to work together and live off each other, in lack of a better term, but if one just gets a little more power than the other, then the balance is thrown off. If nothing's done about it early on, then it gets out of control. This is what I imagine would happen. Granted, I took elements from our own world, but it seemed to work well here for me. The human characters in Pokémon act pretty much how we do, so the two worlds aren't exactly different in morals and how we live.

The Legendaries live long enough to watch the world change dramatically for the better or for the worse. It would make sense for them to either do something about it, or just let it go because it's the way of life, and thus assimilate themselves into the present. They can't be in between. And as time went on, they got more and more tired of being immortal, and some, if not all, stopped caring.

Hope that made sense.

Where the heck did I get that "o" from o_o;? Then again at the time, I knew little to nothing about the Sinnoh region itself, so I really had to look up a map of it. Yeah...

I don't fully understand the context of this line. Is this a general, wide-reaching apology ("we're sorry this had to happen to you") or a specific apology ("I'm sorry it happened to you" as in apologizing for taking the actions)?

Um... I don't remember xD? Probably the first one. She is being sincere about it, so... I dunno.

Deoxys is rapidly becoming my favorite out of this entire group of characters. He's incredibly entertaining, and the arguments beginning to sprout up around him are livening up the story.

Deoxys. You either hate him or love him. I enjoy writing out his character, even though when I had him in mind, I was thinking of the Deoxys from the movie. However, the implication is there that there are more of them out there, so I figured one arrived on Earth and decided to stay. And since Rayquaza never did seem to "let it go", the two have remained rivals if only for different reasons.

So in a way, this Deoxys is someone I'm free to decide what personality he'll have. I went ahead and went with a smart-aleck perverted personality for... whatever reason. It's one of those few traits that carried over from the many years of my brothers and I portraying each and every Legendary.

The rivalry between him and Cresselia was something that just came up out of nowhere in this chapter, so I decided to go ahead and run with it. Every time they have an argument, it's always my favorite to write out, and I enjoy every word.

This paragraph ties the important parts of what's happened so far together quite well. It was easy to know that the evil of the world was destroying them, but this establishes the mental and physical effects on the Legendaries in even more explicit terms. The roles they must take up make sense.

But then something blindsided me like a speeding train: Ho-oh walked back to his seat?

I love Ho-oh's speech. I wanted to show his leadership by him reminding everyone of what was going on, but I guess it had a deeper meaning than I thought. It's sad I never pay attention to what I write, but that's what readers like you are for ^_^. And it's also because everyone has a different view on stories. Fridge Brilliance at its finest.

xD Uh... yeah... he walked back to his seat. The space between the giant boulder/soap-box and the seat isn't that great of a distance... ^_^;

Stylistic difference, but I personally don't care for parentheses in description like this. I would have written it as "...gave him a hug, though he was quickly rescued by Latios."

I'll change it then if you'd like. I tend to either use parentheses or hyphens when doing extra detail like that. (I think I took that from J.K. Rowling or something.)

I think I know the reason for this happening, and it kind of surprises me the Legendaries don't. Though, on the other hand, if they do not understand human science, it could be explained.

Um... it was more of nature taking its course, but human activity had a hand in it, so... I guess...?

Yeah, you can tell it's been a long while since I remembered why I wrote it out the way I did.

I don't know, I still can't really fathom Mewtwo in a conference of naturally-occurring Legendaries yet. Something just feels off.

I think that's natural something should be off. He's technically the newest member, even if it's been about no more than a century since he's attended. He didn't join because the Legendaries didn't accept him, and also because he knew he was man-made, and would have been uncomfortable being there. So I guess it's a good thing you can't accept that fact...? Yay?

Also, while the characters were very good, you introduced a lot of them all at once, and as a result, they had to jockey for spotlight, and some - like Raikou and Entei - felt tacked on. I feel that if you introduced them more slowly, piece by piece, everything would work out better.

Yeah, I should have handled them differently here, but I at least wanted to mention who would be there, and at least hint at their personalities. They get better screentime as the story goes on, thankfully. And you might actually like Entei like everyone else does.

Thanks a lot for the review, Butler! I'll repay the favor soon as I can!

Whew, that took a long while. Thanks again for the reviews, I appreciate it. I especially needed the boost. I'm still struggling with the climax, but it's coming along slowly. I have a term break coming up, so I may pick up the pace then. We'll have to wait and see.